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10X  14X  18X  22X 

I  I   I   I  I   I   I   I   I   M   I  I   I 


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16X 


20X 


a4x 


28X 


32X 


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whichever  applies. 


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KLONDIKE 

AND  THE  YUKON  COUNTRY 


A  DESCRIPTION  OF  OUR 

ALASKAN  LAND  OF  GOLD 

FROM  THE  I,ATEST  OFFICIAI,  AND  SCIENTIFIC  SOURCES 
AND  PERSONAL,  OBSERVATION 


BY 

L.   A.    COOLIDGE 

With  a  Chapter  by  JOHN  F.  PRATT 

CHIEF  OF  THE  AI^ASKAN  BOUNDARY  EXPEDITION  OF  1894 


m 


NEIV  hi' A  PS  AND  PHOTOGRAPHIC  ILLUSTRA  7  IONS 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY  ALTEMUS 

1897 


':  ;f. 


'1. 

I 


Copyrighted  by  Henry  Altemus,  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, A.  D.  j8<)7,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-first  Year  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  Am^  rica. 


Henry  Altemus,  Manvfacturbr, 
philadelphia. 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


1 


n  the  state  of  Pennsyl- 
Twtnty-fir^i  Year  rf 


rtca. 


rRER, 


The  object  of  this  book,  as  explained  in  an  in- 
troduction to  the  first  edition,  is  to  furnish  the 
latest  authentic  information  concerning  a  portion 
of  our  country  which  until  very  recently  has  been 
little  thought  of,  but  which  is  now  the  magnet  for 
many  minds.  The  favor  with  which  it  has  been 
received  by  press  and  public  has  led  to  the  prepa- 
I  ration  of  a  new  edition,  revised,  enlarged,  and 
brought  thoroughly  up  to  date.  It  has  been  the 
aim  to  make  an  accurate  and  comprehensive 
handtwDok  of  the  Alaskan  country,  and  with  this 
end  in  view  all  available  authorities  on  the  subject 
have  been  consulted.  The  new  edition  contains 
four  new  chapters  and  many  additional  half  tone 
illustrations  and  maps.  The  illustrations  are 
largely  from  photographs  taken  by  official  expe- 
ditions of  t*^e  United  States  and  Canadian  Gov- 
ernments. Most  ol  them  are  published  now  for 
the  first  time.  The  maps  are  from  maps  and 
hitherto  unpublished  data  in  the  possession  of  the 
United  States  Coast  and  Geodeti'-  Survey.    They 

Pacific  N.  W.  History  Dept. 


54^30 


PROVINCIAL  LIBRARY 
VICTORIA,  B.  C. 


INTRODUCTION- 


are  believed  to  be  more  nearly  accurate  than  any 
others  which  have  yet  appeared.  The  author 
wishes  to  renew  his  acknowledgment  of  indebted- 
ness to  officers  of  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic 
Survey  and  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.  He  is 
more  than  ever  under  obligation  to  Mr.  John  F. 
Pratt,  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  whose 
chapter  entitled  "Characteristics  of  Our  North- 
western Possessions"  has  contributed  greatly  to 
the  success  of  the  book,  and  whose  counsel  has 
been  of  peculiar  value  in  the  preparation  of  the 
new  edition.  He  wishes  also  to  express  his  thanks 
to  Prof.  Otis  T.  Mason,  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, the  distinguished  authority  on  ethnology; 
tc  Mr. O.H.Tittmann, assistant  in  charge  of  the 
U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey ;  to  Mr.  Marcus 
Baker,  of  the  Geological  Survey,  and  to  Mr.  Har- 
old B.  Goodrich,  one  of  the  associates  of  Mr. 
Spurr  in  the  Geological  Survey  expedition  of 
1896,  w'ho  has  been  kind  -enough  to  make  valua- 
ble suggestions.  To  Mr.  J.  Harry  Cunningham, 
of  Washington,  is  due  much  of  the  artistic  excel- 
lence and  accuracy  of  the  maps  and  illustrations. 

Washington,  D.  C,  September,  1897. 


:urate  than  any 
[.    The  author 
ent  of  indebted- 
it  and  Geodetic 
Survey.    He  is 
to  Mr.  John  F. 
Survey,  whose 
of  Our  North- 
(Uted  greatly  to 
ose  counsel  has 
iparation  of  the 
press  his  thanks 
lithsonian  Insti- 
y  on  ethnology; 
n  charge  of  the 
;  to  Mr.  Marcus 
and  to  Mr.  Har- 
jsociates  of  Mr. 
y  expedition  of 
I  to  make  valua- 
ry  Cunningham, 
he  artistic  excel- 
and  illustrations. 

',  1897- 


I 


i 

1, 
( 

•    li 

i 
1    • 

( 

! 

Ih' 

■B 

j  - 

r\ 

.i 

i;si 

1    .1 

^i 


'lis 


i 


vi-.: 


140° 
■or 


CONTENTS. 


Ift.  Reliant 


New  Lands  of  Gold 7 

Klondike  and  the  Yukon  Diggings 22 

Seeking  the  Pot  of  Gold 37 

Life  in  Camp 63 

Mining  Experts  and  Scientists 78 

Placer  Mining  and  Hydraulics 94 

Alaska  no 

Quartz  Mining  in  Southeastern  Alaska 132 

The  Wonderful  Yukon  Country 144 

Mineral  kesources   . .       168 

Gold  Production  of  tiic  World 182 

Our  Northwestern  Possessions 185 

Laws  Governing  the  Location  of  Claims 194 

Climate   of   Alaska 208 

Opening  up   the   Country 214 

Traits  of  the  Native  Population 233 

A  Bit  of  History 243 

The   Boundary   Dispute 247 


I 


T 


KLONDIKE 


CHAPTER  I. 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 

On  Wednesday,  July  '14th,  1897,  the  little 
steamer  Excelsior  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  San 
Francisco  with  forty  miners  on  board,  each  one 
of  whom  had  brought  with  him  from  the  ice- 
bound interior  of  Alaska  a  fortune  in  gold.  From 
that  day  may  be  said  to  date  the  Klondike  gold 
craze  which  already  rivals  in  extent  the  three 
other  great  gold  crazes  of  the  century,  California 
in  1849,  Australia  in  1851  and  South  Africa  in 
1890.  Already  the  amcmnt  known  to  have  been 
brought  back  by  the  returning  miners  exceeds 
$4,000,000,  and  nearly  $3,000,000  more  is  said  to 
be  on  the  way.  It  is  estimated  by  some  experts 
that  before  the  full  returns  come  in  it  will  be 

7 


fi 


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lU  1 


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nil 


if*'^ 


i 


W*! 


in ! 


8 


KLONDIKE. 


found  the  total  output  of  the  Alaskan  mines  has 
been  $8,000,000.  California  yielded  $60,000,000 
five  years  after  Marshall's  discovery,  and  all  from 
place  diggings,  as  are  the  diggings  in  the  Klon- 
dike region;  but  the  facilities  for  mining  in  Cali- 
fornia, with  its  salubrious  climate,  its  compara- 
tive nearness  to  civilization,  its  all-year-round 
conveniences,  were  infinitely  superior  to  the  fa- 
cilities in  the  Yukon  Basin,  where  winter  lasts 
for  three-quarters  of  the  year,  where  the  ther- 
mometer drops  to  75  degrees  below  zero  in  the 
winter  and  climbs  to  120  degrees  above  zero  in 
the  summer,  and  where  the  nearness  of  the  Arctic 
circle  practically  divides  the  year  into  one  long 
day  and  one  long  night,  each  extending  over  a 
period  of  six  months. 

When  millions  of  gold  can  be  taken  out  in  a 
single  year  «nder  all  these  disadvantages  of  cli- 
mate by  laborers  working  with  the  most  primi- 
tive implements  of  mining  life  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  of  the  opulence  of  a  soil  whose  grudging 
tribute  lo  the  energy  of  the  modern  argonaut  is 
so  fabulous  in  extent. 

These  forty  men  who  came  down  on  the  Ex- 
celsior from  the  port  of  St.  Michael,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon,  had  among  them  over  half 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


0 


skan  mines  has 
dec!  $60,000,000 
iry,  and  all  from 
gs  in  the  Klon- 
mining  in  CaU- 
te,  its  compara- 
s  all-year-round 
[)erior  to  the  fa- 
lere  winter  lasts 
where  the  ther- 
;low  zero  in  the 
es  above  zero  in 
less  of  the  Arctic 
ar  into  one  long 
extending  over  a 

taken  out  in  a 

dvantages  of  cli- 

the  most  primi- 

it  is  diffic-ult  to 

whose  grudging 

idem  argonaut  is 


iown  on  the  Ex- 
lichael,  near  the 
ig  them  over  half 


a  million  dollars  in  gold  dust,  ranging  in  size 
from  a  hazel  nut  to  fine  bird  shot  and  kernels 
of  sand.     All  of  them  were  penniless,  or  nearly 
so,  when  they  left  the  United  States,  some  of 
them  having  taken  their  departure  within  a  year, 
others   liaving   been   prospecting  on   the   fields 
alongthcbrancliesofthe  Upper Yukonfor  several 
years.    They  brought  back  fortunes  ranging  from 
J^50oo  to  $90,000  and  the  most  extraordinary  talcs 
of  their  experience  in  the  mining  countries.  Their 
descriptions  of  the  vast  amounts  of  gold  still  re- 
maining in  the   regions   from   which  they   had 
come  were  so  tempered  with  cautions  and  warn- 
ings against  a  mad  rush  for  the  new  fields  that 
tales  which  otherwise  might  have  been  deemed 
improbable  gained  credence  through  their  very 
conservatism.     But  whatever  might  be  thought 
of  the  tales,  there  was  no  disputing  the  tangible 
fact  of  the  yellow  metal  which  was  laid  down  in 
i  the  Selby  smelting  works,  San  Francisco,  and 
I  when  a  second  ship,  the  Portland,  from  St.  Mi- 
[Chael,  arrived  at  Seattle,  three  days  later,  with 
more  miners  aboard  and  ^p/oo.ooo  in  bullion,  it 
I  was  as  if  a  spark  had  set  afire  the  enthusiasm  for 
ihuMting   gold   which    had    been    lying   dormant 
since  the  days  of  the  Argonauts  of  1849.    There 


'-'  *■  I, 


10 


KLONDIKF. 


have  been  few  scenes  in  mining  history  more 
striking  than  that  which  was  enacted  when  the 
men  landed  from  the  Excelsior,  weather  beaten, 
roughly  dressed,  with  scraggly  beards  and  fur- 
rowed cheeks,  and  marching  straight  to  the 
smelting  works,  proceeded  to  produce  bags  of 
gold,  dirty  and  worn,  containing  thousands  of 
dollars  in  the  precious  metal. 

As  fast  as  the  bags  were  weighed  they  were 
ripped  open  with  a  knife  and  the  contents  were 
allowed  to  scatter  over  the  counter;  and  then 
some  of  the  miners  produced  from  bundles  and 
coat  pockets  gold  dust  in  all  sorts  of  queer  re- 
ceptacles, such  as  fruit  jars  and  jelly  tumblers, 
and  even  writing  paper,  carefully  secured  with 
twine.  No  wonder  the  spectators  looked  on  with 
fascinated  amazement.  No  wonder  the  strange 
news  spread  like  wildfire.  The  gold  fever  of  1897 
had  begun  to  burn. 

These  miners  brought  the  news  that  the  new 
Eldorado  was  situated  on  the  Klondike  River, 
nearly  two  thousand  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Yukon,  just  escaping  the  Arctic  circle  by  a 
bare  150  miles,  and  situated  in  Canadian  terri- 
tory, a  meagre  60  miles  east  of  the  141st  degree 

of  longitude,  which  constitutes  the  boundary  be- 
tween Alaska  and  British  America. 


They 
througl 
these  n 
hidden 
burg,  ^ 
farm  iia 
choice, 
into  the 
Dawson 
gion,  an 
in  hand 
emphatic 
those  w] 
without 
have  to 
would  b( 
new  Elc 
sufficient 
those  wl 
late  as 
sides  sub 
by  the  ti 
of  inhos 
setting  ir 
shut  up  i 
from  tele 
tion  and 


1 


I 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


11 


They  told,  too,  of  the  terrible  hardship 
through  which  they  had  gone  in  order  to  reach 
these  marvelous  gold  fields  and  uncover  their 
hidden  wealth.  Joseph  Ladue,  who  left  Platts- 
burg,  N.  Y.,  a  few  years  ago,  an  impecunious 
farm  hand,  too  poor  to  marry'the  woman  of  his 
choice,  described  how  he  had  forced  his  way 
into  the  new  diggings,  established  the  city  of 
Dawson,  which  is  the  metropolis  of  the  gold  re- 
gion, and  come  back  with  thousands  of  dollars 
in  hand  and  millions  in  prospect,  but  his  most 
emphatic  words  were  words  of  warning  against 
those  who  would  rush  madly  to  the  new  field 
without  considering  the  hardships  they  would 
have  to  undergo.  Starvation  and  want,  he  said, 
would  be  the  lot  of  those  who  ventured  into  the 
new  Eldorado  without  a  supply  of  provisions 
sufficient  to  last  for  months,  and  he  said  that 
those  who  ventured  to  leave  for  the  North  as 
late  as  August  i  were  wasting  their  time,  be- 
sides subjecting  themselves  to  needless  peril,  for 
by  the  time  tuey  had  traversed  the  long  stretch 
of  inhospitable  country  they  would  find  winter 
setting  in  with  Arctic  vigor  and  they  would  be 
shut  up  in  an  ice-bound  region  hundreds  of  miles 
from  telegraph  or  postoffice,  a  prey  to  starva- 
tion and  cold. 


iU  < 


H  * 


12 


KLONDIKE. 


Dawson  City,  which  had  sprung  up  in  an  Arc- 
tic night,  was  situated,  they  said,  near  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Klondike  and  Yukon  Rivers,  had  a 
population  when  the  miners  left  of  3,500,  was 
laid  out  on  modern  lines  with  sixty-foot  avenues 
and  fifty-foot  streets  and  had  all  the  ambitious 
scope  of  a  bonanza  town  with  a  few  score  log 
cal)ins  and  innumerable  tents. 

While  the  voyagers  on  the  Excelsior  were  still 
telling  their  n^arvelous  stories  in  San  Francisco 
fuel  was  added  to  the  fire  by  the  arrival  at  Seattle 
of  the  steamer  Portland,  also  straight  from  St. 
Michael;  with  sixty  miners  aboard  and  over 
$700,000  in  gold.  The  excitement  aroused  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Portland  surpassed  even  that 
of  the  earlier  arrival,  and  it  had  hardlv  touched 
the  wharf  before  hundreds  of  men  in  Seattle 
were  crowding  over  one  another  to  get  an  op- 
portunity to  board  her  for  her  return  trip  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon. 

These  miners  had  been  hunting  for  gold  in 
the  Yukon  country  for  years.  Some  of  them 
had  found  it  in  generous  quantities  lyi.ig  in  the 
streams  and  in  the  beds  of  creel- s  flowing  into 
the  Yukon  just  west  of  the  spot  where  the  river 
crosses  the  boundarv  between  Alaska  and  Brit- 


13 

a 

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c4 

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•  ^    % 

c 
o 

3 


Hi 

it  ■ 


O 


73 

C 

Wi 

O 

Cx4 


o 

o 

a 

3 


ish  Am 
mile  Cre 
continue 
longer  c 
turns  of 
den  disc 
Yukon  ( 
gets  so 
away  wi 
abandon 
had  beei 
largest  c 
ed  over 
of  the  K 
ing  in  a 
ginning 
the  retur 
and  Seal 
pickings, 
banks  of 
called  ap 
nanza,  ut 
montlis  c 
up  the  S( 

of  the  ic< 
first   chai 


NEW  LANDS  OF  COLD. 


13 


ish  America — along  Forty-mile  Creek,  Sixty- 
mile  Creek  and  Birch  Creek.  They  would  have 
continued  digging  along  th  ese  creeks  for  months 
longer  content  with  the  moderate  but  certain  re- 
turns of  their  labors  had  it  not  been  for  the  sud- 
den discovery  on  the  Klondike  pouring  into  the 
Yukon  over  on  the  British  side,  of  gold  nug- 
gets so  large  and  handily  found  that,  carried 
away  with  the  news,  they  pulled  up  stakes  and 
abandoned  in  a  day  the  claims  upon  which  they 
had  been  toiling  for  months.  Circle  City,  the 
largest  camp  in  the  Yukon  district,  was  desert- 
ed over  night,  and  Dawson  City,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Klondike  and  the  Yukon,  sprang  into  be- 
ing in  a  day.  This  was  a  year  ago,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  short  summer  season.  The  gold 
the  returning  miners  brought  to  San  Francisco 
and  Seattle  was  the  product  of  one  season's 
pickings.  They  worked  the  Klondike  and  the 
banks  of  two  creeks  flowing  into  it,  which  they 
called  appropriately  the  Eldorado  and  the  Bo- 
nanza, until  winter  shut  in  on  them,  and  for  nine 
montlis  of  the  cheerless  Arctic  season  they  kq>t 
up  the  search  for  gold,  until  the  breaking  up 
of  the  ice  in  the  following  June  gave  them  their 
first   chance   to   escape   back   home   with  their 


1  . 

i 

1 

i     ■ 

i  ■  ■■-  ■ 

1 

%  ■ 
l1  ' 


W    I 


14 


KLONDIKE. 


treasure.  They  had  been  shut  out  from  the  world 
for  nine  months  as  compl-etely  as  if  they  had  been 
dead.  They  did  not  even  know  the  result  of  the 
election  for  President.  They  were  strangers  in 
their  own  country. 

What  is  believed  to  be  the  richest  gold  strike 
the  world  has  ever  known  was  made  on  Bonanza 
Creek,  a  branch  of  the  Klondike  River,  in  Au- 
gust, 1896.  A  miner  named  George  W.  Cormack 
has  received  the  credit  for  the  discovery.  Some 
say  that  Cormack  only  followed  the  lead  pointed 
out  to  him  by  others,  but  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt  about  his  having  been  the  first  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  rumors  and  locate  a  claim.  William 
Ogilvie,  the  Canadian  land  surveyor,  suggests 
that  the  discovery  was  due  to  reports  of  Indians. 
Cormack  had  an  Ind'an  wife,  and  he  had  for  part- 
ners his  brother-in-law,  Tagish  Charley,  and  an- 
other Indian.  Ogilvie  says  he  set  about  working 
his  claim  late  in  August.  He  was  short  of  appli- 
ances and  could  put  together  only  a  defective  ap- 
paratus to  wash  the  gravel  with.  The  gravel  itself 
he  had  to  carry  in  a  box  on  his  back  from  thirty 
to  one  hundred  feet.  Notwithstanding  this,  the 
three  men,  working  very  irregularly,  washed  out 
$1200  in  eight  days.   "Cormack  asserts  with  rea- 


son,'  sa^ 
ties  it  ec 
having  s 
was  lost 
tus." 

In  his 
adian  Go 
Creek  tv 
hours,  ar 
creek  wh 
two  days 
In  the  sar 
"A  bra 
prospectec 
named  Ti 
there  are 
Which    ha 
about  170 
the  branc 
aggregatii 
over  1000 
"A  few 
Thron-Dit 
pec  ted  anc 
the    mout 
Diuck,  an 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


t6 


son,"  says  Ogilvie,  *'that  had  he  had  proper  facili- 
ties it  could  have  been  done  in  two  days,  besides 
having  several  hundred  dollars  more  gold,  which 
was  lost  in  the  tailings  through  defective  appara- 
tus." 

In  his  report  of  November  6,  1896,  to  the  Can- 
adian Government  Ogilvie  says  that  on  Bonanza 
Creek  two  men  rocked  out  $75  in  about  four 
hours,  and  he  speaks  of  two  men  on  the  same 
creek  who  were  said  to  have  taken  out  $4000  in 
two  days  with  only  two  lengths  of  sluice  boxes. 
In  the  same  report  Mr.  Ogilvie  says: 

"A  branch  of  Bonanza,  named  Eildorado,  has 
prospected  magnificently,  and  another  branch, 
named  Tilly  Creek,  has  prospected  well;  m  all 
there  are  some  four  or  five  branches  to  Bonanza 
wihich  have  given  good  prospects.  There  are 
about  170  claims  staked  on  the  main  creek,  and 
the  branches  are  good  for  about  as  man\  inore, 
aggregating  say  350  clain)*^,  which  will  require 
over  1000  men  to  vvork  properly. 

"A  few  miles  fuither  up  Bear  Creek  enters 
Thron-Diuck  (Klondike),  and  it  has  been  pros- 
pected and  located  on.  About  twelve  miles  above 
the  mouth  Gold-bottom  Creek  joins  Thron- 
Diuck,  and  on  it  antl  a  branch  named  Hunker 


^   ! 


10 


KLONDIKE. 


Creek  very  rich  ground  'has  been  found.  One 
man  showed  me  $22.75  he  took  out  in  a  few  hours 
on  Hunker  Creek  with  a  gold  oan,  prospecting 
his  claim  on  t'he  surface,  taking  a  handful  here 
and  there  as  fancy  suggested.  On  Gold-bottom 
Creek  and  branches  there  will  probably  be  200  or 
300  claims.  The  Indians  have  reported  anotner 
creek  much  fartli^r  up,  which  they  call  "Too 
Much  Gold  Creek,"  on  which  the  gold  is  so  plen- 
tiful that  as  the  miners  say  in  joke  you  have  to 
mix  gravel  with  it  to  sluice  it." 

"From  all  this  we  may,  I  think,  infer  that  we 
have  here  a  district  which  will  give  looo  claims  of 
500  feet  in  'length  each.  Now,  1000  such  claims 
will  require  at  least  3000  men  to  work  them  prop- 
erly, and,  as  wages  for  working  in  the  mines  are 
from  $8  to  $10  a  day.,  without  board,  we  have 
every  reason  to  assume  that  this  part  of  our  terri- 
tory will  in  a  year  or  two  contain  10,000  souls  at 
least.  And  this  is  not  all,  for  a  large  creek,  called 
Indian  Greek,  joins  th^  Yukon  about  midway  be- 
tween Thron-Diuck  and  Stewart  Rivers,  and  all 
along  this  creek  good  pay  dirt  has  been  found. 
AH  that  has  stood  in  the  way  of  working  it  here- 
tofore has  been  the  scarcity  of  provisions  and  the 
difficulty  of  getting  them  up  there.    Indian  Creek 


Jrt 

I 

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, 

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g 

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1 


is  quite  a  h 

yield  five  or 

Nearly  a 

came  that  ; 

tributaries 

(lid  not  exc 

is  the  scene 

of  Domini( 

Indian  Cn 

gold  was  f( 

was  said  t 

$300  in  a  c 

The  repor 

1897,  and 

mountains 

They  trav( 

N\^hole  stre 

There  a 

findings  a 

into  the 

nearer  its 

ed  by  soi 

will  be  fo 
other  spo 

On  Dei 
cially : 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


11 


is  quite  a  large  stream,  and  it  is  probable  it  will 
yield  five  or  six  hundred  claims." 

Nearly  a  year  after  Ogilvie  wrote  thus,  word 
came  that  a  strike  had  been  made  on  one  of  the 
tributaries  of  Indian  Creek,  which  rivalled,  if  it 
did  not  excel,  the  Klondike  find.  Sulphur  Creek 
is  the  scene ^af  t'h'is  last  excitement.  It  is  a  branch 
of  Dominion  Creek,  which  is  in  turn  a  branch  of 
Indian  Creek,  and  early  in  the  summer  of  1897 
gold  was  found  just  below  the  surface  here  which 
was  said  to  run  $34  to  the  pan.  Men  took  out 
$300  in  a  day  simply  by  prospecting  their  claims. 
The  reports  reached  Dawson  City  August  15, 
1897,  and  within  a  week  500  men  had  crossed  th-e 
mountains  between  Eldorado  and  Dominion. 
They  traveled  day  and  night  and  in  two  weeks  the 
\v'hoJe  stream  was  staked  out. 

There  are  persistent  reports  of  extraordinary 
findings  along  the  Stewart  River,  which  empties 
into  the  Yukon  more  than  one  hundred  miles 
nearer  its  Source  than  the  Klondike  .  It  is  declar- 
ed by  some  that  the  headwaters  of  the  Stewart 

will  be  found  far  richer  in  coarse  gold  than  an\ 
other  spot  which  has  been  prospected. 

On  December  9,  1896,  Mr.  Ogilvie  reports  offi- 
cially : 


18 


KLONDIKE. 


"Since  my  last  the  prospects  on  Bonanza  Creek 
and  tributaries  are  incix^asing  in  richness  and  ex- 
tent, until  now  it  is  certain  that  millions  will  be 
taken  out  of  the  district  in  the  next  few  years.  On 
some  of  the  claims  prospected  the  pay  dirt  is  of 
great  extent  and  very  rich.  One  man  told  m-e 
yesterday  that  he  washed  a  single  pan  of  dirt  on 
one  of  the  claims  on  the  Bonanza  and  found  $14 
in  it.  Of  course,  that  may  be  an  exceptionally 
rich  pan,  but  $5  to  $7  per  pan  is  the  average  on 
that  daim,  it  is  reported,  with  five  feet  of  pay  dirt 
and  the  width  yet  undetermined,  but  it  is  known 
to  be  thirty  feet  even  at  that.  Figure  the  result 
at  nine  to  ten  pans  to  the  cubic  foot,  £.nd  five  hun- 
dred feet  long;  nearly  $4,000,000  at  $5  per  pan — 
one  fourth  of  this  would  be  enormous.  Another 
claim  has  been  prospected  to  such  an  extent  that 
it  is  known  there  is  about  five  feet  pay  dirt  aver- 
aging $2  per  pan  and  width  not  less  than  thirty 
feet.  Enough  prospecting  has  been  done  to  show 
that  there  ar^  at  least  fifteen  miles  of  this  extra- 
ordinary richness,  and  the  indications  are  that  we 
will  have  thre€  or  four  times  that  extent,  if  not  all 
equal  to  the  above  at  least  very  rich." 

This  is  striking  testimony.  But  the  evidence  is 
cumulative.     In  his  verv  latest  utterance  made 


i 


» '    12 


If  > 


4> 

o 

.£3 


a 
o 

M 

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1» 
(.« 


o 
6 

0) 

H 


Pi 


a. 

O 
OP 


V 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


10 


9 

2 


30 

3 


(A 

3 


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O 
i-i 
V 

^.^ 

c 

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a 


.4 


since  his  return  from  the  Yukon  in  September, 
1897,  Mr.  Ogilvie  reiterates  his  former  predic- 
tions and  emphasizes  them.  Ogilvie  is  as  hard- 
headed  a  pioneer  as  ever  tramped  over  a  new 
country,  and  he  apparently  has  never  thought  of 
turning  aside  from  his  ofificial  duties  to  chase  the 
glimmer  of  gold;  but  his  latest  estimate  is  that  at 
the  rate  the  Klondike  claims  are  now  producing, 
and  considering  ground  still  to  be  worked,  they 
will  aggregate  about  v;  ,000,000  in  the  next  three 
years. 

He  remarks  in  his  undemonstrative  way:  ''I 
will  select  thirty  claims  on  Eldorado  Creek  and 
will  allow  the  owners  $1,000,000  each  and  take 
wihat  is  over  for  myself  and  consider  that  I  have 
an  A  No.  i  stake."  Ogilvie  says  that  when  he 
left  in  June  fide-hill  claims  located  on  Eldorado, 
Hunker  and  Bonanza  Creeks  were  in  some  in- 
si.nnces  prospecting  as  high  as  $6  to  $8  a  pan. 
"All  th-e  miners,"  he  says,  "concede  that  dirt  with 
five  cents  in  every  shovelful,  when  it  is  three  feet 
and  upward  deep,  is  rich,  but  on  Bonanza  and  El- 
dorado when  a  man  found  onlv  cents  he  was 
somew'hat  indignant.  Unless  he  found  $1  in  every 
pan  at  least  he  was  dissatisfied,  and  sma'll  wonder, 
for  his  neighbors  were  panning  from  $5,  $10,  $15 


20 


KLONDIKE. 


to  $30  and  $40  to  the  pan  and  often  into  the  hun- 
dreds." 

Oo-ihde  also  tells  of  some  of  the  most  recent 
rich  strikes.  He  says:  "On  April  16  George  Cor- 
mack,  acting  for  Tagish  Qiarlev  sold  one-ha.f  of 
a  claim  below  Bonanza  for  $5000,  on^-tenth 
down,  the  balance  to  be  paid  on  July  i,  or  forfeit 
the  monev  and  claim.  Passing  Cormack's  on 
Jul-  I  I  called  to  see  him  and  'found  the  pur- 
chaser'paying  the  balance  of  $4500.  When  the 
business  was  finished  I  asked  the  purchaser  how 
h-e  had  succeeded. 

''  'Oh;  he  said,  'pretty  well.'  I  asked  hmi  if  he 
had  any  objections  to  telling  me  what  he  did  do. 
'No,'  he  said;  'I  drifted  twenty-four  feet  long  by 
fourteen  feet  wide  and  cleared  up  $8000.'  I  said 
to  him:  'Now,  I  know  the  area  of  your  claim,  and 
assuming  that  your  claim  is  all  equally  rich,  we 
will  see  how  much  you  will  take  out  of  it.' 

"The  problem  was  very  simple.  Given  the 
length  and  width,  these  multiplied  together  gives 
us  the  area  in  square  feet.  Divide  this  by  result 
of  multiplving  twenty- four  by  fourteen,  multiply 
the  quotient  by  8000,  and  the  result  in  this  case 
is  the  sum  of' $2,400,000.  He  said:  'My  God, 
what  will   I   do  with  all  that  money?'     'Don't 


f 


1' 


I 

I 


NEW  LANDS  OF  GOLD. 


n 


4 


worry,'  I  said,  'you  will  not  be  troubled  to  that 
extent.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  your  claim  will 
average  anything  lik-e  that  in  richness.  Assum- 
ing it  will  average  one-quarter  of  that,  you  will 
still  have  $600,000.'  " 

One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  gold  finds 
along  the  Yukon  is  the  number  of  big  nuggets 
which  have  come  to  light.  The  largest  yet  re- 
ported is  declared  to  be  worth  $583.25.  It  was 
found  on  Eldorado  Creek  by  a  miner  named  Kut- 
zon. 

The  largest  found  along  the  Yukon  prior  to 
1897  was  taken  out  by  one  Conrad  Dahl  from 
Franklyn  gu'lch  March  26,  1894.  It  weighed  ex- 
actly thirty  ounces  before  being  melted  at  the 
mint  in  San  Francisco,  and  twenty-nine  and 
forty-five  one-hundreclths  ounces  afterwards.  It 
brought  $491.45.  This  on  the  authority  of  Miner 
W.  Bruce  in  his  book  on  Alaska.  Nuggets  have 
been  taken  from  Bonanza  Creek  worth  $250  and 
$231,  respectively.  A  miner  named  Clements 
found  the  smaller  of  these.  The  same  miner  took 
out  four  pans  in  succession,  averaging  $500  each, 
according  to  the  report,  one  of  them  going  as 
high  as  $775. 


if . .    t 


22 


KLONDIKE. 


Ever  since  the  arrival  of  the  Excelsior  on  July 
14,  steamers  have  been  putting  in  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, Seattle  and  Takoma  at  frequent  intervals 
with  gold  on  board.  Up  to  September  20  the 
Director  of  the  Mint  had  been  notified  of  the  de- 
posit of  $/ ,000  000  in  the  mints  at  San  Francisco 
and  Helena.  Not  all  the  gold  finds  its  way  im- 
mediately to  the  mints.  It  is  safe  to  estimate 
that  between  $4,000,000  and  $5,000,000  had  been 
brought  down  by  the  middle  of  September. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  KLONDIKE  AJ^D  THE  YUKON 
DIGGINGS. 

The  richest  yields  of  gold  in  the  Yukon  region 
have  come  from  the  territory  embraced  by  the 
138th  and  145th  degrees  of  longitude  and  the 
62d  and  66th  degrees  of  latitude,  between  the 
upper  ramparts  on  the  East — steep  bluffs  frown- 
ing on  a  picturesque  bend  in  the  river,  and  Fort 
Yukon  on  the  west.  The  greatest  extent  of  gold  • 


I't 


\ 


m  'm 


T 


1,4 

iih. 


O 

3 

>^ 

1) 


bO 

OS 

en 

C/} 

nj 
(U 


o 

a, 

(U 

to 

a 

T3 


> 


a 
o 

e 

u 

Ci 


a 
o 
c 

U 


< 


1 


KLONDIKE   AND    YUKON    DIGGINGS.    23 


!    I  ; 


"i 


bearing  territory  thus  far  explored  is  the  Ameri- 
can side  of  the  141st  degree  of  longitude,  which 
is  the  accepted  boundary  line.  The  most  sen- 
sational discoveries  have  been  on  the  British  side, 
about  60  miles  to  the  east  of  the  line. 

On  the  American  side  gold  has  been  found  in 
liberal  quantities  along  a  number  of  creeks,  Forty 
Mile  creek,  Sixty  Mile  creek  and  Birch  creek 
having  been  developed  in  the  order  named. 
Forty  Mile  Post,  Fort  Cudahy  and  Circle  City 
are  the  distributing  points  for  these  diggings,  and 
Circle  City  is  the  most  important  of  these  mining 
camps.  On  the  British  side,  the  Klondike  River 
and  the  Eldorado  and  Bonanza  Creeks,  tributary 
to  it  near  its  junction  with  the  Yukon,  have 
proved  the  miners'  paradise.  There  is  a  group 
of  creeks  very  near  the  boundary,  tributary  to 
Sixty-mile  Creek,  which  have  contributed  most 
generously  to  the  gold  supply.  Ogilvie,  the  Can- 
adian surveyor,  has  placed  these  on  his  map  east 
f^i  the  boundary  and  in  Canadian  territory,  but 
there  are  some  who  dispute  the  accuracy  of  this 
survev. 

Miller  Creek,  up  to  tne  time  of  the  discovery 
of  Klondike,  was  credited  with  the  richest  dig- 
gings along  the  Yukon  in  proportion  to  their 


;:i;i:i 


y^^ 


Pi 

M 


I'  ■  i 


24 


KLONDIKE. 


extent.  Over  $300,000  was  taken  out  last  season. 
The  creek  is  only  six  miles  long,  but  fifty-four 
claims  were  staked  out  on  it.  The  creek  is  sur- 
rounded at  short  distances  by  Poker,  Davis,  Gla- 
cier and  Little  Gold  Creeks,  all  running  into 
Sixty-mile  Creek. 

Munook  creek  runs  into  the  Tanana,  near  its 
junction  with  the  Yukon.  It  is  the  farthest  west 
of  all  the  diggings.  Rich  pay  has  been  found 
there,  and  miners  have  been  pouring  in  of  late. 

The  Klondike  river  enters  the  Yukon  from  the 
east  at  a  bend  c^bout  2co  miles  east  of  Circle  City, 
and  fifty  miles  north  of  Sixty-mile  Creek.  From 
Sixty-mile  Creek  the  course  of  the  Yukon  is  due 
north  to  the  Klondike  and  then  it  starts  again 
towaird  the  west.  The  copper  vein  of  Ogilvie  and 
Wilson  crosses  the  Yukon  just  at  this  point  and 
the  Indians  have  had  a  fishing  camp  there,  for 
years,  the  Klondike  having  been  noted  for  its 
salmon.  Its  w^aters  are  clear  and  shallow,  as  be- 
fits it  source  up  along  the  snow-capped  ranges. 

"Klondike"  is  a  corruption  of  the  Indian  name. 

!\I'r.   Ogilvie,  the   Canadian    surveyor;,    says  It 

should  be  Thron-Diuck,and  that  is  the  form  given 

in  Canadian    official    reports.     At    the    United 

States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survev  it  is  said  the 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS. 


26 


word  ought  really  to  be  spelled  "Tlondak," 
which  is  Indian  for  "fishing  grounds,"  and  f^?;it 
is  the  name  given  to  the  stream  which  has  now 
become  synonymous  with  Eldorado  in  maps 
which  were  made  in  1887  by  Mr.  McGrath,  tlu' 
Coast  Survey  official  detailed  at  that  time  to  ex- 
plore a  country  which  was  then  quite  unknown. 
McGrath  very  nearly  starved  to  death  on  the 
very  spot  whence  millions  of  dollars  in  yellow 
metal  have  been  taken  during  the  last  twelve 
months,  and  he  never  suspected  the  presence  at 
that  immediate  place  of  the  precious  metal.  But 
that  is  another  story. 

Miners  have  been  taking  out  gold  since  1886 
from  the  placer  diggings  on  the  American  side 
of  the  line.  The  earliest  diggings  were  at  Forty 
Mile  Creek,  about  sixty  miles  east  of  the  Klon- 
dike, and  then  came  discoveries  at  Sixty  Mile 
Creek,  a  little  farther  south,  and  at  Birch  Creek, 
a  good  deal  farther  west.  Of  these  diggings 
those  along  Birch  Creek  have  been  the  most 
profitable,  and  the  camp  of  Circle  City,  which 
was  founded  in  the  fall  of  1894,  was  for  a  time 
a  place  of  considerable  importance.  It  was  the 
distributing  point  for  the  whole  region  and  wa^;. 
in  a  measure,  the  metropolis  of  the  Yukon  \'al- 


(it 


26 


KLONDIKE. 


ley.  Now  it  has  been  eclipsed,  for  a  time,  at  any 
rate,  by  the  new  settlement  at  Dawson  City. 
Circle  City  has  the  great  advantage,  however,  of 
being  on  American  soil,  for  whatever  the  pres- 
ent temporary  tendency,  it  is  believed  by  those 
who  have  studied  the  cr  ntry  most  closely  that 
the  American  side  of  the  141st  parallel  of  longi- 
tude, which  constitutes  the  Alaskan  boundary, 
will  eventually  prove  the  richest  and  most  pro- 
fitable portion  of  the  gold-bearing  territory. 
Over  500  men  wintered  at  Circle  City  last  year. 
Thv  town,  which  is  situated  near  the  head  waters 
of  the  Yukon,  about  170  miles  from  Forty  Mile 
Creek,  is  laid  off  in  streets,  with  the  main  street 
facing  the  river,  and  it  is  so  near  to  Birch  Creek 
that  a  portage  of  six  miles  brings  it  to  the  banks 
of  Birch  Creek,  two  hundred  miles  from  the 
mouth,  and  thus  in  a  position  to  bring  the  gold 
dust  taken  out  of  this  great  American  gold-bear- 
ing basin  to  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Yukon. 
The  gold  diggings  on  American  soil  which  have 
been  prospected  extend  from  the  141st  to  the 
146th  degree  of  longitude.  The  Klondike  region 
is  just  to  the  west  of  the  141st  degree,  Dawson 
City  being  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Klon- 
dike and  Yukon,  about  sixtv  miles  to  the  west 


G 

o 

c 
o 


=3 


c 

J! 

*^ 

J3 
&. 

2 

CO 

o 

o 

J= 


Z^^    fa 


O 

is 


III 


h 

l!  :1 


'I? 


'i 


KLONDIKE  AND  YUKON  DIGGINGS. 


27 


The  experts  of  the  Coast  and  Geological  Sur- 
veys who  have  explored  the  country  to  some  ex- 
tent estimate  that  the  gold-yielding  territory  ex- 
tends over  at  least  five  hundred  miles  and  that 
the  richest  portion  of  it  is  on  American  soil.  The 
Cassiar  Mountain  region,  as  far  east  as  the  130th 
degree  of  longitude  on  the  northern  border  of 
British  Columbia,  has  been  worked  with  a  good 
deal  of  success  for  the  last  eleven  years,  although 
the  yield  now  seems  to  be  falling  ofif.  The  gold 
in  this  region  comes  from  the  same  mother  lode 
as  that  at  Klondike,  at  Sixty  Mile  Creek,  at 
Forty  Mile  Creek  and  at  Birch  Creek.  Scientists 
believe  it  is  from  the  same  mother  lode  as  the 
gold  from  the  Sierras,  and  they  even  go  so  far 
as  to  assert  that  the  gold  mines  of  the  Ural 
Mountains  in  Siberia  go  back  to  the  same  origin. 
In  other  words,  the  whole  country  of  two  conti- 
nents, from  the  Ural  Mountains  to  the  Rockies,  is 
impregnated  with  a  mineral  which  is  apparent!  \ 
exhaustless  in  extent  and  which  will  suffice  to 
keep  the  world  supplied  with  gold  for  ages  to 
come. 

Nobody  seems  to  know  just  when  gold  wa;^ 
iirst  discovered  in  the  Yukon  Basin,  for  no  twn 
niners  can  be  found  to  agree  on  the  subject.    Tl 


A 


28 


KI.oNDIKl-:. 


seems  to  be  certain  ibat  none  was  ever  found 
there  before  i860,  although  it  is  said  that  some 
of  the  Hudson  Day  Company's  men  ran  on  to 
gold  at  about  that  time.  But  if  they  did  the  dis- 
covery was  never  followed  up,  and  they  are  hardly 
entitled  to  the  credit.  It  does  not  appear  that 
t>.e  Russians,  during  their  ownership  and  occu- 
pation of  the  country,  ever  instituted  any  thor- 
ough search  for  the  precious  metals.  It  is  true  that 
gold  wa:.  discovered  by  Doroshin  on  the  Kenai 
Peninsula  in  1848,  and  that  he  afterwards,  in 
1S50-51,  made  further  explorations  of  the  same 
KLighborhood,butit  has  always  been  charged  that 
the  Russian-American  Company,  regarding,  as  it 
did,  any  effort  to  develop  the  mineral  resources 
of  iliC  country  as  in  the  highest  degree  inimical  to 
the  business  in  which  it  was  wholly  engaged  and 
of  which  it  held  an  exclusive  monopoly,  induced 
him,  by  the  payment  of  a  consideration,  to  sup- 
press the  truth  in  regard  to  what  he  may  really 
have  discovered.  There  is  a  tradition,  too, 
among  old  Russian  residents  that  a  Russian  en- 
gineer sent  out  by  the  Imperial  Government  to 
examine  and  report  on  the  mineral  resources 
ii  the  country,  made  some  rich  discoveries  jn 
laranoff    Island,   which   he    reported   in   Sitka, 


i 


, 


KLONDIKE  AND  VU'xON  DIGGINGS. 


2'J 


whereupon,  being-  of  convivial  habits,  he  was 
taken  in  charge  by  the  governor,  who  was  als(.) 
the  company's  manager,  by  whom  he  was  wined 
and  dined  and  his  appetite  for  drink  ministered 
to  until  he  sank  into  a  drunkard's  grave,  and  was 
thus  prevented  from  making  any  report  of  his  dis- 
coveries to  the  Imperial  Governnuiil.  Doro- 
shin  did,  however,  report  finding  gold  on  the 
Kaknu  River,  which  empties  into  Cook's  Inlet, 
though  it  appears  that  his  explorations  were 
wholly  confined  to  an  examination  of  the  alluvial 
sands  of  the  streams  and  gulches  in  that  neigh- 
l)orhood.  To  the  fact  that  the  Russian-American 
Company,  like  the  Hudson  Bay  and  American 
Fur  Companies,  believed  that  its  interests  would 
h'C  jeopardized  by  the  bringing  to  light  of  any 
natural  resources  which  would  invite  immigra- 
tion, and  thus  tend  to  the  earlv  settlement  and 
development  of  the  country,  is  no  c.oubt  due  the 
further  fact  that  nothing  w'as  publicly  known  be- 
fore the  transfer  of  the  existence  in  Alaska  of 
gold  and  silver  in  paying  quantities. 

vSo  far  as  is  known,  the  first  genuine  prospector 
in  the  Yukon  region  was  one  George  Holt,  who 
is  declared  to  have  been  the  first  white  man  to 
cross  the  coast  range  for  that  purpose.     About 


30 


KLONDIKE. 


all  that  is  known  of  Holt  is  that  he  made  his 
journey  in  1878,  but  nobody  seems  to  know 
what  path  he  followed  or  whether  he  took  tltc 
trail  over  the  Chilkoot  or  White  Pass.  It  is 
known  only  that  he  descended  the  chain  of 
lakes  above  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  which  have  since 
been  traversed  by  so  many  other  seekers  after 
gold,  that  he  followed  the  Indian  trail  to  the 
Hootalinqua  River  and  that  he  returned  the  same 
way  in  the  fall.  The  Hootalinqua  River  region, 
which  he  penetrated,  is  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  to  the  southwest  of  the  Klondike. 
Holt  reported  that  he  found  coarse  gold  near 
there,  but  no  coarse  gold  has  been  discovered  in 
that  region  since,  although  flour  gold  has  been 
yielded  up  from  the  bars  of  the  river.  In  any 
event.  Holt  did  not  find  encouragement  enough 
to  continue  his  exploration.  The  next  that  is 
known  is  the  expedition  of  Edward  Bean,  who 
started  out  from  Sitka  in  1880  at  the  head  of  a 
prospecting  party.  There  were  twenty-five  men 
in  the  company.  Thty  crossed  Chilkoot  Pass  to 
Lake  Lindemann,  built  boats  and  descended 
the  Lewis  River  as  far  as  the  Hootalinqua.  Their 
success  amounted  to  the  finding  of  gold  in  a 
small  stream  fifteen  miles  above  the  canon  vield- 


I 


'-^ifX'Vzx;^  ^ifmiXrxn-.'- 


I 


GATEWAYS 

TO  THE 

YUKON  COLTSTRY. 

/i33° 


Is   ? 


KLONDIKE  AND  VL'KON  DIGGINGS. 


31 


ing  $2.15  per  day.  This  was  not  a  discovery  cal- 
culated to  encourage  further  attempts,  but  about 
this  time  many  other  small  parties  began  to  force 
their  way  through  the  Chilkoot  Pass  farther  and 
farther  up  the  lakes  and  the  rivers.  All  of  thcni 
found  gold  in  greater  or  less  quantities.  The  first 
party  to  discover  gold  in  really  paying  quantities 
in  the  Yukon  Basin  consisted  of  four  miners, 
who  crossed  the  range  in  1881  and  descended  the 
Lewis  River  as  far  as  the  Big  Salmon  River,  as- 
cending tiiat  stream  for  over  two  hundred  miles 
and  finding  gold  on  all  its  bars.  The  Cassiar 
Bar  was  not  located  until  1886.  nid  up  until  a 
comparatively  recent  time  this  was  the  richest 
of  all  the  bars  prospected  near  the  Yukon  ^r  any 
of  its  tributaries.  It  was  in  the  same  year  tliat 
coarse  gold  was  found  on  Forty  Mile  Creek  on 
American  soil  several  hundred  miles  down  the 
river.  This  discovery  drew  ofif  all  the  miners 
who  had  been  digging  in  the  upper  river  country 
on  Canadian  territory.  The  bars  at  Forty  Mile 
Creek  were  worked  for  some  years  at  a  good 
profit,  but  they  have  now  been  abandoned  owing 
to  the  discovery  of  coarse  gold  more  easily  ic- 
cessible  in  the  gulches.  Forty  Mile  Creek,  which 
)vill  always  be  of  interest  from  the  fact  that  it 


1  ' 


82 


KLOxVDIKE. 


was  the  scene  of  the  first  touch  of  gold  excitement 
in  Alaska,  owes  its  name  to  the  fact  that  it  en- 
ters the  Yukon  about  forty  miles  from  Old  Fort 
Reiiance.  It  is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long-  and  has  many  tributaries^  all  of  which  carry 
gold  in  paying  quantities.  Sixty  Mile  Creek  en- 
ters the  Yukon  River  from  the  southwest 
and  about  seventy  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Stewart.  It  has  given  up  excellent  yields  of 
gold,  and  about  lOO  miners  have  wintered  every 
year  of  late  at  a  trading  post  and  a  saw  mill 
which  have  been  established  on  one  of  its  islands 
Birch  Creek  was  not  |')ro3pected  until  1893,  and 
then  only  just  enough  to  show  that  the  country 
was  rich  with  gold.  In  the  season  of  1894  near- 
ly one  h-tmdred  men  prospected  this  country  and 
staked  of¥  their  claims.  It  was  found  that  bed- 
rock was  much  nearer  the  surface  than  in  the 
Forty  Mile  Creek  district,  and  the  claims  yielded 
very  good  returns.  They  drew  many  men  away 
from  the  Forty  Mile  Creek  mine. 

The  mining  of  these  regions  is  still  in  its  in- 
fancy, although  it  has  been  going  on  in  more  or 
less  desultory  fashion  for  the  last  fifteen  years, 
and  only  a  few  of  the  most  accessible  streams 
have  ever  been  prospected.    All  the  larger  rivers 


KLONDIKE   AND    YUKON    DIGGINGS.    38 


of  the  upper  country  furnish  flour  gold  which 
increases  in  coarseness  as  the  rivers  are  ascend- 
ed, and  from  this  it  is  argued  that  the  surround- 
ing gulches  in  many  places  must  furnish  ex- 
ceedingly rich  diggings.  The  territory  cut  by 
these  streams  has  never  been  explored  even  su- 
perficially except  as  it  may  have  been  explored 
in  the  last  year  by  miners  hunting  for  gold,  and 
yet  it  is  almost  unlimited  in  extent.  A  hundred 
thousand  men  could  be  hunting  gold  in  the  Yu- 
kon Basin  at  the  same  time  without  ever  cross- 
ing one  another's  tracks  and  each  would  be  lost 
to  the  world. 

Running  nearly  parallel  with  the  great  bend  of 
the  Yukon,  and  forming  the  divide  between  the 
streams  flowing  into  that  river  from  various  di- 
rections is  a  low  range  of  mountains  set  down  on 
the  map  as  the  Ketchumstock  hills.  Forty-mile 
and  Sixty-mile  Creeks  flow  eastwardly  from  these 
hilts  into  the  Yukon,  Birch  Creek  toward  the 
north,  and  the  Tanana  river  turns  to  the  west. 
All  these  streams  have  yielded  p^old  in  paying 
quantities,  and  some  of  them  have  yielded  richly. 
The  streams  running  into  the  Tanana  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Ketchumstock  hills  have  not  yet  been 
explored,  but  lower  down,  along  the  banks  of  the 


i  ' 


r 


I 


84 


KLOT^^DIKE. 


I      I 


u  ^ 


Tanana  itself,  gold  has  been  found  and  the  bars 
have  been  worked.  Five  years  ago  rich  discov- 
eries were  made  on  the  Koyukuk  river,  which 
flows  into  the  Yukon  from  the  north  about  loo 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Tanana,  after  run- 
ning almost  parallel  with  the  Yukon  from  a 
source  nearly  due  north  from  Fort  Yukon.  A 
number  of  creeks  near  the  source  of  the  Koyukuk 
have  been  prospected  with  fairly  good  results, 
and  parties  have  been  formed  recently  to  seek  out 
gold  in  this  most  northern  region. 

Ogilvie  says  there  are  not  less  than  1400  miles 
of  stream  in  the  Canadian  part  of  the  district, 
upon  all  of  which  gold  has  been  found.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  these  figures  will  be  exceeded  on  the 
American  side  of  the  boundary  when  it  is  ex- 
plored with  anything  like  the  thoroughness  that 
has  characterized  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Ogilvie 
and  Dawson.  As  soon  as  the  army  of  gold  hunt- 
ers now  marching  northward  begins  to  scatter  in 
search  of  undeveloped  fields  it  is  believed  that 
this  part  of  the  country  will  give  a  good  account 
of  itself.  Prof.  John  Muir,  who  was  one  of  the 
earliest  of  Alaskan  travelers,  a  scientist,  who  dis- 
covered the  famous  iVluir  glacier  and  who  ha? 
written  fascinatingly  of  the  splendid  scenery  of 


»-™«^,,_,^ 


suu 


I 


w 


>, 

V 

^ 

ci 

tn 

•o 

3 

(« 

u 

c3 

4-> 

, 

>t 

(A 

o 

(XH 

^ 

«4-l 

■3 

o 

C 

Si 

(A 

o 

u 

H 

(d 

c4 

0) 

•— » 

C 

>. 

ua 

•* 

CL 

"S 

1 

•^ 

o 

c 

0 

i-H 

e 

KLONDIKE   AND    VUKOxN    DIGGINGS.    3S 

the  country,  has  declared  that  hundreds  of  pla- 
cers as  rich  as  the  Klondike  await  discovory.  He 
says  that  as  great  discoveries  will  be  made  on 
one  side  of  the  boundary  as  the  other.  "In  Cali- 
fornia," he  says,  "the  gold  is  all  on  the  western 
slopes;  in  Southern  Oregon  the  field  varies  and 
broadens  out  again,  and  in  Northern  Oregon  or 
Washington  and  British  Columbia  it  is  the  same. 
But  it  reaches  its  greatest  extent  in  Alaska  and 
the  northwestern  territory." 

Prof.  Muir's  predictions  harmonize  with  those 
of  other  observers,  and  they  go  to  bear  oat  the 
opinion  expressed  by  Mr.  Pratt  in  his  chapter  on 
"Characteristics  of  Our  Northwestern  Posses- 
sions." Indeed  there  are  signs  already  that  they 
will  be  verified  by  actual  results  before  long. 
The  Copper  River  does  not  belong  to  the  Yukon 
system,  but  it  takes  its  rise  in  the  region  of  the 
Ketchumstock  hills,  not  far  from  the  sources  of 
Tanana.  For  years  the  Copper  River  Indians 
have  been  supplied  with  gold  dust  which  they 
used  in  trade  with  the  whites,  and  there  have 
been  stories  of  nuggets  of  gold  brought  down 
to  the  mouth  of  .he  river  by  the  natives.  Allow- 
ance may  be  made  for  the  imagination  of  travel- 
ers, but  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  gold 


\  ■       ' 

I  'i 

i 

I 
I 

I 
I 

I 

i 

I 

_  .  .i- 
I'i 

i 

'■      I" 
'  ■   ':l 

t. 


hi 


36 


KLONDIKE. 


is  to  be  found  along  Copper  River  in  paying 
quantities.  Some  even  predict  that  the  findings 
there  will  be  more  sensational  than  any  that  have 
yet  been  made.  James  R.  Thompson,  who  went 
up  to  the  Yukon  diggings  in  1894,  and  came  out 
by  way  oi  the  Copper  River  with  three  compan- 
ions, reports  that  tihe  Indians  were  excessively 
cautious  and  evidently  anxious  to  get  them  out  of 
the  countr}^  and  that  the  reason  for  this  appeared 
when  he  saw  some  of  those  who  accompanied  his 
party  deliver  stealthily  to  their  chief  on  arrival 
at  one  of  the  villages  a  quantity  of  coarse  nug- 
gets of  gold.  There  are  those  who  believe  that 
the  lode  to  which  all  the  placer  deposits  along  the 
numberless  branches  of  the  Yukon  are  supposed 
to  ewe  their  origin  will  yet  be  discovered  near  t'he 
headquarters  of  the  Copper. 

Mr.  C.  E.  Spurr,  in  his  report  of  the  Geological 
Survey  expedition  of  1896  through  the  Yukon 
country,  says: 

"'The  Yukon  districts  lie  in  a  broad  belt  of 
gold-producing  rocks,  having  a  considerable 
width  and  extending  in  a  general  east  and  west 
direction  for  several  hundred  miles.  Throughout 
this  belt  occur  quartz  veins  which  carry  gold, 
but  so  far  as  yet  found  out,  tlie  ore  is  of  low 


'*i 


IP 


I 


I 


«,^- 


'■^-*  •*-,«:!' 


-•^..-r-:'^'^!'^^' 

^n^^ 


4i 

I 
>> 

4-1 

o 

4-> 


O 
O 


u 
o 

4-> 

(/] 

4-> 

s 

bo 
C 

*>» 
c« 


« 

o 
u 

■s 

2 
o 

u 

S 
ui 


•a 

a 


o 


1 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


37 


t 

3 


g 

u 

2 
o 

u 


'/ 


grade,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  veiui  have 
been  so  broken  by  movements  in  the  rocks  that 
they  can  not  be  followed.  For  this  reason,  the 
mines  in  the  bed  rock  can  not  be  worked,  except 
on  a  large  scale  with  improved  machinery,  and 
even  such  operations  are  impossible  until  the 
general  conditions  of  che  country  in  reference  to 
transportation  and  supplies  are  improved." 

Still,  it  is  believed  that  the  real  wealth  of  this 
wonderful  country  will  eventually  be  found  in 
the  veins. 


CHAPTER  III. 


•d 

V 

X 

a 

2 
o 

Pu 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 

The  first  requirement  for  one  seeking  the  gold 
fields  is  a  hardy  constitution;  the  second  is  capi- 
tal. For  the  Yukon  is  not,  as  some  other  gold 
countries  have  been,  a  poor  man's  paradise. 
Gold  is  there  in  Aladdin-like  profusion,  but  it  is 
not  to  be  had  for  the  asking:.     It  comes  onlv  as 


38 


KLONDIKE. 


w  1 


the  fruit  of  wearisome  and  perilous  travel,  of  des- 
perate combat  with  the  rigors  of  an  Arctic  cli- 
mate, of  deadly  waiting  for  Arctic  winters  to 
unloose  their  icy  hands.  For  the  privilege  of  a 
few  months  of  toil  the  prospecting  miner  must 
endure  many  months  of  unremunerative  delay, 
(luring  which  he  must  pay  extortionately  for  the 
mere  privilege  of  living.  For  the  season  of  pla- 
cer mining  lasts  only  during  June,  July  and  Au- 
gust. 

Before  beginning  even  to  hunt  for  gold  the 
aspiring  miner  must  prepare  himself  for  the  long 
and  tedious  trip  to  the  fields,  and  this  is  a  task 
that  will  tax  the  endurance  and  nerve  of  the  most 
hardy.  It  m:ans,  according  to  one  who  has 
made  the  trip,  "packing  provisions  over  pathless 
mountains,  towing  a  heavy  boat  against  a  five 
to  an  eight-mile  current,  over  battered  boulders, 
digging  in  the  bottomless  frost,  sleeping  where 
night  overtakes,  fighting  gnats  and  mosquitoes 
by  the  millioias.  shooting  seething  canyons  and 
rapids  and  enduring  for  seven  long  months  a 
"elcntless  cold  which  never  rises  above  zero  and 
freriuently  falls  to  80  below." 

Any  man  who  is  physically  able  to  endure  all 
t'Ms,  who  will  go  to  the  gold   fields    for    a    few 


„|'--"V 


'  V 


I 


SliKKlNi;  Tilt:  POT  Ol"  GOLD. 


years,  can,  by  strict  attention  to  business,  make 
a  good  strike,  with  the  possibiHties  of  a  fortune. 

But  he  must  have  money  to  start  with.  All 
who  have  been  to  the  gold  fields  agree  in  saying 
that  no  man  should  undertake  the  journey  with 
less  than  $400  in  capital.  And  he  had  better  have 
$1000.  The  expense  of  reaching  the  mines  is 
considerable.  One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  is 
a  modest  figure  for  the  journey  from  Seattle,  and 
when  once  in  the  gold  region  the  expense  of  liv- 
iufj^  is  enormous.  The  prices  of  even  the  most 
ordinary  provisions  are  fabulous,  and  the  com- 
panies doing  business  there  refuse  to  give  credit, 
as  they  can  sell  all  their  goods  and  more  for 
ready  cash.  F'rovisions  are  almost  unobtainable 
at  any  price.  An  officer  of  the  U.  S.  Geological 
Survey,  who  has  traveled  through  this  country, 
has  assured  the  author  of  this  book  that  if  he 
were  looking  for  certain  profit  and  had  the  ne- 
cessary capital  he  would  never  think  of  hunting 
for  gold,  but  would  invest  everything  in  provi- 
sions and  groceries,  which  would  yield  enormous 
profits  should  they  be  got  into  the  Yukon  region. 

If  the  traveler  contemplates  the  overland  trip 
'i^  ortfit  should  be  bought  in  Juneau,  the  me- 
tropolis  of   Southeastern   Alaska,   the   last   out- 


■If-:!. 


^ 


KLONDIKE. 


post  of  civilization  in  the  path  of  the  voyager  for 
gold.  The  needs  of  the  traveler  can  be  gauged 
there  better  than  anywhere  else,  nearer  the  centre 
of  population  and  wealth.  Experienced  men 
have  found  that  the  provisions  a  man  ought  to 
lav  by  before  starting  on  the  overland  journey 
from  Juneau  make  a  formidable  list.  The  arti- 
cles required  for  one  man  for  one  month  arc 
somewhat  as  follows: 

Twenty  pounds  of  flour,  with  baking  powder. 

12  pounds  of  bacon. 

6  pounds  of  beans, 

5  pounds  of  dried  fruits. 

3  pounds  of  dessicated  vegetables. 

4  pounds  of  butter. 

5  pounds  of  sugar. 
4  cans  of  milk. 

1  pound  of  tea. 

3  pounds  of  coflfee. 

2  pounds  of  salt. 

Five  pounds  of  corn  meal. 

Pepper. 

Matches. 

Mustard. 

Cooking  utensils  and  dishes. 


Frvin 


g  pan. 


I.J|iPi||IW 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


41 


Water  kettle. 

Tent. 

Yukon  stove. 

Two  pairs  good  blankets. 

One  rubber  blanket. 

Bean  pot. 

Two  plates. 

Drinking  cup. 

Tea  pot. 

Knife  and  fork. 

Large  cooking  pan. 

Small  cooking  pan. 

These  are  simply  for  sustenance.  In  addi- 
tion the  traveler  will  find  it  necessary  to  build  his 
own  boat  with  which  to  thread  the  chain  of  lakes 
and  rivers  leading  to  the  gold  basin.  He  will 
need  the  following  tools: 

Jack  plane. 

Whip  saw. 

Hand  saw. 

Rip  saw. 

Draw  knife. 

Ax 

Hatchet. 

Pocket  rule. 

Six  pounds  of  assorted  nails. 


42 


KLONDIKE. 


hi 

'1 


Three  pounds  of  oakum. 

Five  pounds  of  pitch. 

Five  pounds  of  five-eighths  rope. 

He  will  also  find  that  he  must  have  some  pro- 
tection against  the  deadly  assaults  of  gnats  and 
mosquitos,  which  fill  the  air  throughout  Alaska; 
thai  he  will  have  to  be  provided  for  mountain 
climbing  and  for  protection  against  snow  blind- 
ness, when  is  one  of  the  most  demoralizing  af- 
fliciions  tliat  can  befall  the  traveler  over  the  snow- 
covered  j)asses.    So  he  will  need: 

Mosquito  netting. 
(  »ne  pair  scrag-proof  hip  boots. 

Snow  glasses. 

]Medicmes. 

These  are  the  provisions  necessary  for  a  miner 
for  a  single  month,  and  whether  he  will  need 
more  for  his  journey  depends  somewhat  upon 
the  manner  in  which  he  travels.  In  the  first 
place  nobody  should  undertake  to  travel  alone. 
The  trip  should  be  made  in  parties  of  two  or 
more,  which  will  conduce  to  safety  and  also 
lightness  of  the  individual's  load.  It  is  possible 
for  parties  to  attend  to  their  own  transportation 
over  the  divide  between  Juneau  and  the  lakes. 
I-    that  case  thev  should  start  before  the  first  of 


^5f  ^^"  1 


SEEKINC;  THE  R)T  OF  (lOLD.  43 

April  so  as  to  catch  the  snows  and  ice.  They  can 
use  sleighs  over  the  summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass 
and  along  the  lakes  down  to  the  place  of  junc- 
tion with  the  river.  Wy  the  time  the  river  is 
reached  the  ice  will  liave  begun  to  break  away 
and  the  rest  of  the  journey  can  be  managed  by 
boat.  By  this  arrangement  the  gold  fields  can 
be  reached  four  weeks  earlier  than  by  waiting 
for  the  opening  of  the  summer  season  before 
starting  from  Juneau.  Should  the  start  be  de- 
ferred till  after  April  30,  Indians  will  have  to  be 
employed  to  do  the  packing  across  the  pass.  The 
Indians  charge  $14  per  hundred  for  this  ser- 
vice, and  each  is  accustomed  to  carry  about  a 
hundred  weight. 

Before  making  a  start  the  wise  traveler  will 
consider  the  cost  of  living  in  tlie  diggings  and 
provide  himself  accordingly.  Following  are  a 
few  of  the  average  prices  of  provisions  and  ar- 
ticles of  common  use: 

Cost  of  shirts   $500 

Boots,  per  pair 10.00 

Rubber  boots,  per  pair 25.00 

Caribr,u  hams,  each 40.00 

Flour,  per  fifty  pounds 20.or; 

Beef,  per  pound  (fresh) 50 


r^ 


44  KLONDIKE. 

Bacon,  per  pound 75 

Coffee,  per  pound   i.oo 

Sugar,  per  pound 50 

Eggs,  per  dozen 2.00 

Condensed  milk,  per  can i.oo 

Live  dogs,  per  pound 2.00 

Picks,  each 1500 

Shovels,  each   15.00 

Wages,  per  day 1 5-oo 

Lumber,  per  1000  feet 1 50.00 

When  the  miners  left  Da v  son  City  the  follow- 
ing prices  were  in  vogue: 

Flour,  per  100  lbs $12.00 

Moose  ham,  per  lb i.oo 

Caribou  meat,  per  lb 65 

Beans,  per  lb 10 

Rice,  per  lb 25 

Sugar,  per  lb 25 

Bacon,  per  lb 40 

Butter,  per  roll 1.50 

Eggs,  per  dozen    1.50 

Better  eggs,  per  dozeii   2.00 

Salmon,  each  $1  to     1.50 

Potatoes,  per  lb 25 

Turnips,  per  lb 15 

Tea,  per  lb i.oo 


SEEKING  THE  R)T  OF  GOLD.  45 

Coffee,  per  lb 50 

Dried  fruits,  per  lb 35 

Canned  fruits 50 

Canned  meats 75 

Lemons,  each 20 

Oranges,  each 50 

Tobacco,  per  lb 1.50 

Liquors,  per  drink 50 

Shovels 2.50 

Picks 5.00 

Coal  oil,  per  gallon  i.oo 

Overalls   1.50 

Underwear,  per  suit $5  to    7.50 

Shoes 5.00 

Rubber  boots $10  to  15.00 

The  tourist  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  will 
find  m  the  following  table  information  concern- 
ing the  expenses  of  travel  according  to  his  means 
and  inclination: 

Fare  from  New  York  to  Seattle,  Takoma  or 
San  Francisco,  $81.50. 

Fee  for  Pullman  sleeper,  $20.50. 

Fee,  for  tourist  sleeper,  run  only  west  of  St. 
Paul,  $5. 

Meals  served  in  dining  car  for  entire  trip,  $16. 

Meals  are  served  at  stations  along  the  route  a 
la  carte. 


■  I 


46 


KLONDIKE. 


\ 
J 


Distance  from  Xew  York  to  Seattle,  3290 
miles. 

Days  required  to  make  the  journey,  about  six. 

Fare  for  steamer  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  in- 
chuling  cabin  and  meals,  $32  cabin;  $17  steerage. 

Days,  Seattle  to  J-imeau,  about  five. 

Number  of  miles  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  725. 

Cost  of  living  in  Juneau,  about  $3  a  day. 

Distance  up  Lynn  Canal  to  Dyea,  steamboat, 
75  miles. 

Number  of  days  New  York  to  Dyea,  twelve. 

Cost  of  complete  outfit  for  overland  journey, 
about  $150. 

Cost  provisions  for  one  year,  $200. 

Cost  of  dogs,  sled  and  outfit,  about  $150. 

Steamer  leaves  Seattle  once  a  week. 

Best  time  to  start  is  early  in  the  spring. 

Total  cost  of  trip  New  York  to  Klondike,  about 
$667. 

Number  of  days  required  for  journey,  New 
York  to  Klondike,  thirty-six  to  forty. 

Total  distance,  Juneau  to  the  mines  at  Klon- 
dike, 650  miles. 

Having  settled  the  question  of  expense,  the 
next  thing  is  to  select  a  route.  The  routes  that 
go  into  Klondike  are  two.    The  most  expensive 


Hydraulic  Monitors  at  woik  on  Bed  Rock. 


Treadwell  Mines,  Douglas  Island. 


I 


II' 


J   I 


\u 


I     I 


.,..     , 


SEEKING  THE  I'OT  OK  (JOLD. 


4» 


is  by  steamer  from  Seattle  to  St.  Michael,  a 
distance  of  2500  miles,  and  then  by  river  boat  up 
the  Yukon,  1700  miles  to  Dawson  City.  By  this 
route  it  takes  thirty-five  or  forty  days,  and  the 
fare  is  $180.  The  steamers  permit  only  150 
pounds  of  baggage  for  each  passenger.  The  two 
steamers  that  leave  before  the  river  is  closed 
by  ice  this  fall  cannot  carry  more  than  150  pas- 
sengers each.  This  roiite  is  the  more  expensive, 
and  some  think  the  more  comfortable. 

The  second  route  is  overland  from  Juneai', 
and  is  the  most  perilous,  the  most  subject  'o 
hardships  and  consequently  th«  most  fascinating 
fortune-hunting  journey  that  could  be  imagined. 
Steamers  nm  from  Seattle  to  Juneau,  which 
is  the  metropolis  of  Alaska,  and  thence  a  small 
steamer  transports  the  seeker  aft'.T  gold  up  L\  nn 
Canal  and  Chilkoot  Inlet  to  Dyea,  sometimes 
called  TaJya,  which  has  jiist  been  made  a  port  of 
entry  by  Secretary  Gage  for  the  benefit  of  the 
incoming  horde  of  miners.  The  distance  is  650 
miles.  Dyea  is  just  at  the  head  of  the  northern- 
most branch  of  Chilkoot  Inlet,  which  is  itself  a 
branch  of  Lynn  Canal,  the  extreme  northern 
limit  of  navigation,  and  is  one  hundred  miles 
due  north  of  Juneau.    At  Dyea  the  overland  jour- 


48 


KLONDIKE. 


ney  begins.  The  ouuil,  which  for  the  long  period 
of  isolation  in  the  interior  is  no  small  affair,  is 
packed  on  sleds  and  hauled  for  twenty-seven 
niilcs  over  the  mountains  and  over  the  deadly 
Chilkoot  Pass  to  Lake  Lindeman,  the  first  of 
the  series  of  lakes  reaching  up  into  the  interior. 
Thi>.  passage  of  twenty-seven  miles  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  whole  journey.  It  would  be 
bad  enough  if  it  were  made  without  baggage.  A 
good  trnvclcr,  in  priire  condition,  unhampered 
by  an  elaborate  ouifit,  can  make  the  summit  of 
Chilkoot  P'iss  from  Dyea  in  twelve  hours.  Mr 
Pratt,  of  the  United  .elates  Coast  Survey,  who 
wa^  in  Alaska  on  the  boundary  commission  sev- 
eral years  ago,  Icfi  Dvea  with  a  companion  at  9 
o'clock  one  morning  and  reached  the  summit  of 
Chilkoot  Pass  at  9  o'clock  the  same  night.  P>ut 
tiiat  was  a  case  of  moving  light  infantry.  Ordi- 
narily it  will  take  a  miner  at  least  two  days  to 
make  the  difficult  ascent  v;ith  a  portion  of  his 
outfit,  and  sometimes  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  go 
back  to  the  starting  point  for  the  rest  of  his  out- 
fit, for  it  is  to  be  born?  in  mind  that  transporta- 
tion companies  have  not  yet  secured  a  charter  to 
do  business  in  Chilkoot  Pass.  Thus  it  is  that  at 
least  six  days  might  be  used  up  in  getting  over 


smmmmm 


S      St- 


o 

il 
a 

M 
V 

u 

V 

CQ 

•2 

a. 
i 


o 
a. 

E 

o 


[•A 


SEKKINc;  THK  TOT  OF  GOLD. 


49 


V 


^ 


1— 1 

^ 

*• 

M 

a 

O 

o 

o 
U 

1 

•■M 

M 

O 

U) 

•T3 

6 

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(« 

s 
p 

the  short  distance  from  salt  water  to  frcsli.  Some- 
times it  takes  even  lonj^er  than  that.  The  only 
assistance  that  can  he  ol^tained  is  that  of  the  In- 
(hans,  who  can  he  liired  to  carry  outfits  over  the 
divi(k'  at  an  expense  of  $14  for  every  hundred 
pounds.  This  is  done  in  the  absence  of  snow, 
which  prechides  sledchng.  With  the  present  rush 
to  the  j:;;uld  fields  the  natives  will  receive  large 
profits.  The  overland  trip  involves  a  climb  of 
3500  feet  to  the  summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  most  impressively  picturesque  jour- 
neys tliat  can  be  imagined.  The  landscape  is 
resplendent  with  glaciers,  the  ice  sparkles  like 
jewels  in  the  Alaskan  sun,  the  motmtains  rise  in 
the  distance  on  every  side,  and  it  is  all  impressive 
beyond  the  power  of  description.  l>eyond  this 
the  trip  is  exhausting,  though  necessarily  not  so 
dangerous  as  in  the  pass,  for  there  are  times  when 
sudden  snows  come  to  fill  in  the  pass  without 
warning,  and  there  are  fev  who  have  survi\ecl 
such  an  encounter  with  the  elements  as  this.  Hut 
with  Lake  Lindeman  a  new  feature  of  the  jour- 
ney presents  itself.  Those  who  make  the  journey 
in  summer  will  find  the  ice  out  of  the  lakes.  Init  if 
an  early  start  were  to  be  made  they  would  be  able 
to  cross  Lake  Lindeman  or  the  otlier  lakes  of  the 


■  '  s 


00 


KLONDIKE. 


chain  on  foot  or  else  by  means  of  ice  boats  tem- 
porarily constructed.  The  ice  breaks  up  in  the 
lake  al)out  the  first  of  May,  and  then  it  becomes 
necessary  for  the  travelers  to  stop  atsd  build 
boats.  I'ntil  the  last  year  it  was  necessary  »or 
every  miner  to  carry  a  whip  saw  with  him  with 
wliich  to  cut  the  timber  for  his  craft,  and  whip- 
sawing  was  one  of  the  picturescjue,  although  not 
especially  inviting,  incidents  of  the  trip.  But  a 
saw  mill  has  recently  been  constructed.  The  only 
timber  used  in  the  construction  of  '^oats  on  the 
lakes  is  spr-uce  or  Xcvvay  pine.  In  the  first 
place,  the  timber  has  to  be  located,  and  this  is  n*yt 
the  easiesi  thing  in  the  worW,  because  the  timber 
around  the  lake  is  nearly  alH  burned  off.  and  there 
is  none  suitable  for  boat  bimidJng.  After  the  ti-^  - 
her  i?ias  been  located  corner  the  constmctioa  •  j. 
saw  pit.  To  construct  a  saw  pit  it  is  neces=ar\  to 
find  trees  so  arranged  as  to  >upport  -rn^^-r^'ytu-e^^ 

the  stumps  being  cur  at  a   iroper  d:    .;      .    

the  gTo«and  so  as  to  take  :  otcheii  oros»-f»ecxs 
in.  This  requires  four  trees  about  equi-#gbHt 
from  one  another,  and  the  cross-pieces  liwpe  to 
be  fixed  very  firmly  in  place  so  as  not  :  .  d.^ 

the  log  which  is  to  be  sawed  is  Iikel\  otherwise 
to  be  the  cause  of  an  accident.     <  )ften  a  good 


:>KKKIN(;    rilK  R>T  OF  GOLD. 


woodsTjian  will  l)c  able  to  fell  the  tree  which  is  to 
be  sawed  in  such  a  way  thai  it  will  fall  into  the 
pit,  which  saves  the  time  and  trouble  of  skiddinj^ 
the  lojj  up  and  rolling  it  in  place  after  felling, 
which  is  freciuently  a  very  difficult  task.  I''ro:n 
the  slabs  and  boards  thus  roughly  made  the  tlat- 
bnats  are  constructed,  upon  which  the  miners 
traverse  the  chain  of  lakes  extending  north  from 
Chilkoot  Pass.  I  ake  Lindeman  is  some  six  miles 
long,  with  an  average  width  of  one  mile,  and  is 
cleared  to  navigation  usually  after  May  15th,  al- 
though sometimes  not  before  June  loth.  Con- 
necting w  ith  It  is  Lake  Bennett,  which  is  twenty- 
six  miles  long,  with  an  average  breadth  of  one 
mile;  and  then  comes  Tagish  Lake.  Lake  Ben- 
nett is  surrounded  by  high  mountains,  which  rioc 
abruptly  *m  either  side,  mak  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  find  a  landing  place.  It  is  rathei  per- 
ilous for  rafts  and  boats  on  account  of  the  strong 
winds  which  sweep  up  from  the  south  through 
Chilkoot  Pass.  Lake  Bennett  acting  as  a  funnel 
for  that  norrow  passage.  The  winds  are  always 
ira  the  south  and  are  caused  by  the  hot  air  of  the 
inland  valleys,  supplemented  l»y  the  cooler  air 
of  'he  coast,  rushing  inland  over  the  low  passi-s 
and  down  the  lakes.     As  Lake  Bennett  is  only 


62 


KLONDIKE. 


h^l 


five  miles  wide  at  its  broadest  place,  and  at  many 
points  is  much  less  than  a  mile,  the  air  is  forced 
over  it  between  the  high  ridges  of  mountains 
at  a  tremendous  rate.  Some  of  the  mountains 
reach  a  height  of  8000  feet.  The  climate  is  dry, 
and  V  hat  little  rain  falls  consists  of  an  occasional 
tliunder  shower.  The  air  is  cool  and  bracing 
from  the  snow-capped  peaKs,  which  temper  the 
wariiitli  of  a  down-pouring  sun. 

Lake  Bennett  is  connected  with  Lake  Tagish 
by  a  very  crooked  and  shallow  cliannel  with  a 
slight  current  known  as  Caribou  Crossing,  from 
the  fact  that  it  was  <iscd  by  the  bands  of  barren 
land  caribou  in  their  migrations  in  tiie  fall  and 
spring.  Tagish  Lake  is  an  irregular  body  of 
water  with  two  arms,  known  as  Windy  Arm  and 
Taku  Arm,  stretching  ofT  to  the  south  and  south- 
east. Taku  Arm  is  really  a  larger  body  of  water 
than  thai  particular  portion  known  as  Tagisli 
Lake,  but  Tagish  Lake  acquires  its  importance 
from  being  directly  in  line  of  travel  between  Lake 
Lindeman  and  Lake  Bennett  on  the  south  and 
Lake  Marsh  on  the  north.  Tagish  Lake  is  con- 
nected with  Lake  Marsh  by  a  broad  river  with 
slow  current,  lined  v/ith  wooded  slopes  and  plen- 
ty of  Cottonwood  and  white  spruce.    The  river  is 


^prWfl  I 


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SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


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about  five  miles  long,  and  on  it  is  situated  tlie 
Tagish  House,  where  yearly  festivals  and  coiuicils 
of  war  are  held  by  the  natives,  the  buildings  being 
the  only  permanent  structures  in  hundreds  of 
miles  above  where  the  Pelly  and  Lewis  Rivers 
join  to  make  the  Yukon. 

Lake  Marsh,  whicn  is  next  entered,  stretches 
along  at  a  width  of  two  miles  for  a  distance  of 
twenty,  the  most  notable  feature  of  all  these  lakes 
being  their  narrowness  as  compared  witli  their 
length.  Lake  Marsh  is  in  the  middle  of  a  broad 
valley,  from  which  high  ranges  of  mountains 
stand  out  prominently  at  a  considerable  distance. 
Its  banks,  like  the  banks  of  the  other  lakes,  are 
well  wooded.  From  Lake  Marsh  the  seeker  for 
gold  finds  his  way  into  Lewis  River,  which  he 
follows  for  a  distance  of  nearly  five  hundred 
miles  to  the  northwest  until  he  reaches  the  gold 
fields  around  the  Klondike  Basin.  '1  nis  journey 
along  Lewis  River,  with  its  canons  and  rapids,  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  that 
can  possibly  be  imagined.  One  of  the  features 
of  the  trip  is  the  high  cut  banks  which  stretch 
along  for  mile  after  mile  and  which  are  complete- 
ly honeycombed  by  martins, which  resort  thereto 
rear  their  young.     Lake  Marsh  is  the  limit  for 


j 


I' 


,•  f. 


64 


KLt)Nl)IKL. 


the  migration  of  the  salmon,  vvhicli  arrive  there 
in  small  numbers,  although  those  who  do  brave 
the  journey  are  said  to  be  the  finest  to  be  found 
anywhere  in  the  world,  averaging  forty  pounds 
in  weight.  The  swift  waters  of  the  (irand  Canon 
are  too  powerful  ever  for  the  salmon  whose  har- 
dihood brings  them  as  far  up  the  river  as  this. 

The  Grand  Canyon,  or  "Miles" Canyon  is  mar- 
velously  beautiful.  It  is  cut  through  a  horizontal 
basalt  bed,  and  the  walls  range  in  height  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  being  worn 
into  all  sorts  of  fantastic  shapes.  The  average 
width  of  the  canon  is  about  one  hundred  feet, 
and  as  the  average  width  of  the  river  above  it 
is  over  seven  hundred  feet,  the  force  with  which 
tliis  great  volume  of  water  cuts  through  the 
steep  ledges  of  rock  may  be  imagined.  Mr.  Wil- 
son, who  made  this  trip  in  1894  and  who  has 
described  it  at  length  in  his  "Guide  to  the  Yukon 
Gold  Field."  says  that  he  shot  through  the  can- 
on for  a  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in 
two  niinutes  and  twenty  seconds,  and  when  his 
boat  emerged  from  the  chasm  it  was  leaking  bad- 
ly and  nearly  every  nail  was  started.  Two  miles 
beyond  come  the  White  Hor.se  Rapids,  which 
form  a  perilous  passage  even    for   the    best    of 


SEKKINCi  Tin:  rt)T  OK  tiOl.li. 


boats,  and  farther  dtjwn  comes  Lake  Labarge,  at 
a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles  from  Lake  Marsh. 
Lake  L;;l)ary^e  is  thirty-one  miles  lon^,  with  an 
averaj;e  width  of  five  miles,  and  is  very  windy. 
It  is  the  last  of  the  remarkable  series  of  lakes  be- 
ginning with  Lake  Lindeman  in  the  south.  And 
here  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  singular 
conformation  of  the  country  which  makes  the 
springs  no  farther  distant  than  thirty  miles  from 
tidewater  on  the  south  find  their  outlet  in  the 
great  system  of  rivers  which  pour  their  waters 
through  the  Yukon  into  Liering  Sea  thousands 
of  miles  away. 

The  Hootalinqua  River  enters  the  Lewis 
twenty-eight  miles  below  Lake  Labarge  and  has 
acquired  an  interest  apart  from  its  size  owing  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  the  limit  of  the  journey  of 
the  earliest  prospector  for  gold  in  this  region. 
Thirty-one  miles  farther  down  is  the  Big  Salmon, 
and  tliirty-five  miles  still  farther  comes  the  Little 
Salmon,  both  of  which  are  great  streams  for 
fishing,  many  Indians  .spending  the  summer 
months  on  the  larger  river  preparing  their  win- 
ter salmon.  After  proceeding  eighty  miles  far- 
ther the  argonauts  come  to  old  Fort  Selkirk,  at 
the  junction  of   the    Pelly    and    Lewis    Rivers, 


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KLONDIKE. 


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where  there  is  a  trading  post.  This  is  the  far- 
thest point  to  which  the  shallow  boats  which  ply 
the  Yukon  reach,  and  the  P.  B.  Weare,  which 
will  be  a  familiar  name  no  doubt  to  those  miners 
hereafter  who  endeavor  to  reach  the  gold  fields 
by  the  water  route,  has  been  accustomed  to  win- 
ter. Ninety-six  miles  farther  down  the  White 
River,  which  is  described  as  the  most  wonderful 
of  all  the  great  system,  enters  the  Yukon  from 
the  west.  The  volume  of  water  is  vast;  it  is  mud- 
dy in  color,  and  the  current  flows  at  the  rate  of 
eight  or  ten  miles  an  hour.  It  discharges  itself 
into  the  Yukon  with  such  force  that  the  roar  can 
be  heard  for  a  long  distance,  and  it  muddies  the 
larger  river  until  the  waters  of  the  two  can  hard- 
ly be  distinguished.  The  White  River  comes 
from  a  glacier  region  and  is  supposed  to  flow 
over  volcanic  deposits,  but  the  meagreness  of 
the  information  which  exists  in  regard  to  this 
whole  interior  country  appears  in  the  fact  that 
little  more  than  has  been  said  is  known  about 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  remarkable  streams 
in  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  Ten  miles 
farther  down  the  Yukon  receives  the  waters  of 
the  Stewart  River,  c.long  which  rich  finds  of  gold 
have  recently  been  made.    It  is  a  quartz  forma- 


«'■) 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


57 


tion  and  the  rock  assays  $300.  Seventy  miles 
farther  Sixty  Mile  Creek  joins  the  swelling 
stream  and  fifty  miles  beyond  Sixty  Mile  Creek 
the  Klondike  River  enters  from  the  east.  The 
Yukon  between  the  Klondike  River  on  the  east, 
and  where  Sixty  Mile  Creek  enters  it  on  the  west, 
runs  almost  directly  north  and  south.  The  geld 
discoveries  on  Sixty  Mile  Creek  have  been  far 
to  the  west  on  the  American  side  of  the  boun- 
dary, while  the  discoveries  on  the  Klondike 
River  have  been  to  the  east  and  altogether  on 
Canadian  soil.  Continuing  down  the  river  from 
Klondike  the  traveler  would  come  to  Forty  Mile 
Creek,  which  awhile  ago  was  the  centre  of  such 
gold  mining  excitement  as  there  was,  but  for  the 
present  at  any  rate  no  seeker  after  wealth  will 
venture  a  step  beyond  the  Klondike  region.  The 
reports  of  miners  coming  from  the  gold  fields 
all  agree  that  the  placer  diggings  along  Foity 
Mile  Creek,  Sixty  Mile  Creek  and  Bi;ch  Creek 
have  been  abandoned  for  the  more  spectacular, 
sensational  findings  on  the  Klondike  River, 
that  Circle  City  is  occupied  by  only  a  stray  min- 
er or  two,  and  that  Forty  Mile  Post,  which  in  1895 
boasted  ten  saloons,  two  restaurants,  <^hree  bil- 
liard halls,  two  dance  houses,  an  opera  house,  a 


¥ 


68 


KLONDIKE. 


cigar  factory,  a  barber  shop,  two  bakeries,  sev- 
eral breweries  and  distilleries  and  a  store,  is  now 
a  deserted  camp. 

This  desertion  of  Forty  Mile  Post  and  of  Cir- 
cle City,  which  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-live 
miles  farther  down  the  river,  is  believed  by  min- 
ing experts  to  be  temporary,  for  the  fields  which 
feed  them  are  practically  exhaustless,  although 
they  have  been  abandoned  now  for  diggings 
which  will  yield  speedier  returns. 

But  for  the  present  the  traveler  may  be  safely 
left  at  Klondike,  which  was  his  original  destina- 
tion, having  spent  seven  weeks  in  traversing  the 
650  miles  between  Lynn  Canal  and  Dawson  Ci^y. 
with  dangerous  and  exciting  experience,  through 
swift  and  treacherous  currents,  log  jams,  1lo.1t- 
ing  ice  and  debris,  whirl  pools  and  rapids  and 
dark  canons  full  of  unknown  difficulties.  The 
quickest  time  which  can  be  made  under  existing 
conditions  between  Juneau  and  Dawson  City  is 
about  a  month. 

Those  who  wish  to  take  the  route  by  way  of 
St.  Michael  can  board  the  steamer  at  San  l*ran- 
cisco  or  Seattle,  travel  twenty-five  hundred  miles 
^o  St.  Michael,  which  is  the  Alaskan  seaport  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River,  then  travel  on 


B^ 


vaM^I 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


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the  liitle  river  steamer  1895  miles  clear  acro-s 
American  territory  and  well  into  British  Colum- 
bia. This  trip  takes  about  thirty  days  and  the 
traveler  is  subject  to  tedious  delays  caused  by 
ice  jams  and  sand  bars,  so  that  by  the  time  he 
reaches  the  gold  field  he  is  hardly  in  condition 
to  take  advantage  of  his  opportunities.  The 
period  during  which  the  Yukon  River  is  navi- 
gable is  so  short  that  some  think  it  hardly  pays 
to  attempt  the  journey  in  this  way,  al< hough 
hundreds  have  essayed  the  trip  in  the  first  dush 
of  the  gold  excitement.  The  ice  does  not  break 
up  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  earlier  than  the  first 
of  June  and  by  the  time  the  traveler  reaches  the 
fields  and  locates  his  claim  winter  is  almost  ready 
to  set  in  and  he  is  obliged  to  exist  as  best  he  can 
through  the  bitter  cold  of  Arctic  days.  So  it  is 
that  the  majority  of  prospectors  will  continue  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  overland  trip  from  Ju- 
neau which  has  been  described  in  detail. 

A  new  route  to  the  Klondike  will  be  opened 
next  spring.  It  is  overland  from  Juneau  to  Fo* 
Selkirk,  on  the  Yukon,  and  is  entirely  by  land. 
Captain  Goodall,  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Steamship 
Company,  inspected  it  this  summer  and  reported 
it  practicable.   It  is  about  700  miles  long,  and  it 


■V;- 


f         . 


M         i 


60 


KLONDIKE. 


'I'  1 


crosses  the  divide  over  Chilkat  Pass,  which  is 
about  fifty-five  miles  to  the  west  of  Chilkoot  Pass. 
No  lakes  or  rivers  are  on  the  route,  but  the  trail 
runs  over  a  high,  level  prairie.  Old  Pioneer  Dal- 
ton.  after  whom  the  trail  is  named,  has  driven 
many  bands  of  sheep  over  it  to  the  digg'ings. 
White  Pass  seems  to  be  destined  to  be  a  popular 
trail  as  soon  as  it  is  in  working  order.  It  is  enter- 
ed by  way  of  the  Skaguay  River,  about  four  miles 
beloAV  Dyea  Inlet  and  leads  direct  to  Tagish 
Lake. 

One  who  is  now  at  the  Klondike  diggings 
writes  from  there  of  his  journey  overland  as  fol- 
lows: 

"We  arrived  here  from  Dyea  after  seventy  days 
of  the  hardest  travel  I  ever  experienced.  We  had 
all  our  provisions  in  cache  at  Chi'lkoot  Pass.  We 
loaded  everything  on  three  sleds  and  turned  them 
loose  down  the  three-mile  declivity.  They  landed 
all  safe  at  the  bottom  on  the  Yukon  side. 

"Then  we  followed,  winging  and  tumbling 
after.  We  crossed  Lake  Lindeman  on  the  ice  all 
right  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  and  got  safely 
to  the  head  of  Lake  Bennett.  By  this  time  the 
weather  was  getting  warmer  and  the  snow  melt- 
ing.   The  snow  crust  on  the  lake  would  support 


J- 


Sitka,  Alaska. 


^^»'.<r    -^■;^-; 


*...    '^T- 


The  City  of  Juneau. 


i  ! 


it      ! 


»        ;"       ' 


1 

1 

i 

1 

1 

1 

■1 

^! 

i  1 

i '     '  ; 


SEEKING  THE  POT  OF  GOLD. 


61 


the  sleds,  but  we  broke  through  at  every  step, 
and  there  was  about  a  foot  of  slush  under  tne 
crust.  After  wadinjj  this  way  for  two  days  and 
having  traversed  but  four  miles  we  went  into 
camp  to  wait  for  a  cold  snap  or  more  of  a  thaw- 
to  break  up  the  ice.  We  lay  in  camp  for  three 
days,  and  then  came  a  cold  spell,  the  wind  blow- 
ing a  gale. 

"When  we  struck  Marsh  Lake  the  weather 
had  become  warm  again,  and  it  took  us  three 
days  to  make  seven  miles  through  eight  inches 
of  slush,  so  we  waded  into  a  good  patch  of  tim- 
ber and  remained  there  fourteen  davs  building  a 
boat.  It  took  us  six  days  to  fell  the  trees  and 
saw  the  boards  out. 

"When  we  got  to  the  great  Yukon  we  launch- 
ed our  little  craft  and  tried  her  in  the  swift  cur- 
rent of  the  mighty  river  (a  river  as  large  as  the 
Mississippi)  and  found  she  would  answer  our 
purpose  very  well.  The  next  day  we  came  to  a 
canon  known  as 'Miles  Canyon,' the  most  danger- 
ous place  on  the  river,  where  many  a  party  have 
lost  all  they  had,  and  their  lives,  too.  It  is  a 
steep  cut  through  the  mountain  range.  The  wa- 
ter rushes  through  with  frightful  speed.  There 
is  a  long,  devious  way  around  the  canon  by  land 


G2 


K1C^L1KE. 


which  requires  four  days'  hard  work  to  get  over, 
while  to  shoot  the  canon  only  takes  two  and 
one-half  minutes. 

"As  soon  as  the  boat  entered  the  canon  she 
seemed  to  shiver  and  then  plunged  head  fore- 
most into  the  first  waves,  and  about  a  half  bar- 
rel of  water  came  over  the  bo\v.  Then  she 
straightened  out  and  rode  through  the  rapids 
without  shipping  a  drop  more  water.  We  con- 
tinued down  the  river  to  Lake  Labarge,  thirty- 
five  miles.  There  our  boat  riding  ended  for  the 
present,  the  lake  being  still  frozen  solid.  It  is 
thirty  miles  long.  The  ice  was  smooth  as  glass, 
so  we  rigged  up  two  sails  on  the  boat  (which 
we  had  deposited  on  two  sleds). 

"Two  days  later  we  once  more  launched  into 
the  friendly  Yukon  and  floated  calmly  down  the 
river  to  Klondike,  a  distance  of  four  hundred 
miles  from  the  last  lake,  in  eight  days." 

There  is  talk  already  of  building  a  railroad  in- 
to the  gold  diggings,  and  the  Canadian  Govern- 
ment has  been  asked  to  help.  An  appropriation 
of  $5000  was  passed  by  the  present  Parliament 
to  send  surveyors  into  the  field. 

Two  routes  are  suggested — one  from  a  point 
on  the  Canadian  Pacific,  the  other  from  Dyea. 


■      r 

1 

r 

r 

\ 

LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


68 


It  is  said  that  neither  ofifers  serious  difficulties 
from  an  engineering  point  of  view.  From  Dyea 
only  eighty  miles  of  road  would  have  to  be  built, 
the  rest  of  the  route  being  to  the  mines  by  means 
of  the  lakes  and  rivers.  This  road  would  abolish 
the  peril  of  the  Chilkoot  Pass.  The  other  route 
is  500  miles  long  and  entirely  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  while  the 
Dyea  route  would  have  its  terminus  in  the  soil 
of  the  United  States.  The  day  may  not  be  far 
distant  when  the  Alaskan  country  will  be  tra- 
versed by  rail  from  the  Canadian  Pacific  to  Be- 
ring Straits.  American  enterprise  may  run  a 
road  all  along  the  coast  from  Seattle  to  Asia. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


LIFE  .N  CAMP. 

A  mining  camp  is  always  a  spot  of  intense  hu- 
man interest.  It  is  the  breaking  of  the  frontier 
— the  first  contact  of  civilization  with  the  wilder- 
ness— and  it  brings  into  play  all  the  rough  ele- 
mental qualities  of  the  human  animal.  The  Yu- 
kon  minmg  camps  have  been  little  worlds  by 


i 


64 


KLONDTKE. 


themselves,  isolated  and  ice-bound,  and  they  have 
been  rich  in  incident,  thoiigli  from  all  accounts 
they  seem  to  have  lacked  the  easy  indifference 
to  the  sanctity  of  human  life  which  characterized 
the  earlier  mining  camps  of  California  and  Col- 
orado. Forty  Mile  Post,  for  example,  has  been 
described  as  a  characteristic  gold  town  in  every 
way  but  one.  It  boasts  the  company  stores,  an 
opera  house,  a  barber  shop,  two  bakeries,  two 
restaurants,  three  billiard  parlors,  two  terpsi- 
chorean  resorts,  several  distilleries  and  ten  sa- 
loons. Its  exceptional  feature  is  the  utter  ab- 
sence of  that  lawlessness  and  disorder  always 
looked  for  in  frontier  places.  This  same  peaceful 
state  of  affairs  obtains  throughout  the  country. 
Law  there  is  none,  except  miner's  law,  that  stern, 
Draconian  code,  which  decrees  the  extreme  pen- 
alty for  the  least  offense.  The  fact  that  there  has 
never  been  a  lynching  or  shooting  affray  there  is 
testimony  of  the  efificiency  of  self-government, 
where  the  consent  of  the  governed  has  been  se- 
cured. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  part  of  the  general 
obedience  is  due  to  the  liberality  with  which  the 
moral  obligation  is  constr-ued.  The  Yukon  Deca- 
logue contains  rather  less  than  ten  command- 


(A 

c 

in 


P 
OJ 


O 

ni 
CD 


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ex 

X 


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5     S 


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p 


I      i- 


:i 


LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


65 


ments.  Thou  slialt  not  avoid  thy  just  debts: 
thou  shalt  not  kill;  thou  shalt  not  steal;  thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbor's  claim,  nor  his  sluice- 
boxes,  nor  his  cabin,  nor  his  mission  squaw,  nor 
anything  that  is  his,  make  up  the  prohibited  list. 

One  can  hang  a  sack  of  gold  dust  outside  of 
his  cabin  and  it  is  perfectly  safe.  One  saloon- 
keeper has  $160,000  in  gold  in  a  little  shack  and 
he  never  locks  his  door. 

A  returning  traveler  says  the  only  reminder  of 
law  and  vested  authority  that  he  saw  on  the  en- 
tire journey  down  the  Yukon  was  at  Forty  Mile, 
or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  at  Fort  Cudahy, 
which  is  across  the  bend  of  the  river  a  mile  or 
two  away  from  the  former  place.  There  was  a 
low  stockade  and  a  flagpole  with  the  union  jack 
flying. 

There  is  a  detachment  of  twenty-live  Canadian 
mounted  police  stationed  here  and  a  magistrate, 
ind  the  whole  machinery  of  the  law  as  applied  to 
territories  is  in  operation.  They  have  very  little 
to  do  in  maintaining  order,  and  the  police  may 
be  pardoned  for  assuming  a  little  commission  on 
the  side,  as  it  were,  in  going  over  the  line  into 
American  territory  to  put .  MessrSc  Van  Wagenen 


I 


66 


KLONDIKE. 


I 


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and  Hestwood  in  possession  of  their  mine,  which 
was  held  by  indignant  miners. 

The  poHce  are  a  well-equiped  and  well-drilled 
body  of  men,  armed  with  Lee-Metford  rifles.  As 
cavalry  or  mounted  police  they  are  out  of  their 
element,  as  it  is  impracticable  to  use  horses  here. 

It  is  now  proposed  by  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment to  establish  an  army  post  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  diggings,  with  headquarters  prob- 
ably at  Circle  City.  The  troops  will  act  as  po- 
lice. 

There  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  atti- 
tude of  the  two  governments  toward  their  pion- 
eers. Four-fifths  of  the  men  in  the  interior  are 
Americans,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
number  have  been  in  American  territory.  On  the 
British  side,  with  one-fourth  the  interest  at  stake, 
the  Canadians  have  a  picked  and  athletic  body  of 
men  ready  to  respond  in  any  emergency.  Should 
disaster  befall  any  man  or  body  of  men  within 
the  Dominion's  jurisdiction,  these  police  would 
hasten  to  the  rescue  as  rapidly  as  it  is  within  hu- 
man power  to  do,  and  without  any  question  as  to 
whether  or  not  the  unfortunates  were  citizens. 

Over  the  line,  in  Alaska,  in  a  stretch  of  coun- 
try where  two  or  three  New  Englands  might  be 


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thrown  in  at  random  without  touching,  the  dig- 
nity of  the  United  States  is  upheld  by  one  man, 
a  customs  officer,  whose  duties  partake  of  those 
of  a  tax  collector  and  a  detective  combined.  The 
only  solicitude  expressed  is  in  the  way  of  col- 
lecting taxes.  Recently  a  United  States  postmas- 
ter has  been  added  to  the  official  life,  but  nat-urally 
he  has  nothing  to  do  except  handle  mail.  A 
United  States  commissioner  is  the  latest  prom- 
ised acquisition,  although  he  has  not  yet  put  in  a 
formal  appearance. 

The  most  prevalent  trouble  is  scurvy,  which 
results  from  scarcity  of  vegetables  and  fresh 
meats.  A  diet  of  beans,  salt  pork  and  bad  ba- 
con brings  trouble.  Fresh  meat  is  always  scarce. 
Ivloose  and  caribou  have  been  killed  off  and  the 
chase  would  not  supply  a  fraction  of  the  popula- 
tion. There  are  graylings  and  other  fish  in  the 
Yukon  and  they  can  be  hooked  through  the  ice, 
but  few  will  stand  out  in  the  middle  of  a  river 
at  6o  degrees  below  zero  and  with  time  worth 
$15  a  day.  Last  winter  a  quarter  of  beef  was 
sledded  into  Circle  City  with  dogs.  It  was  view- 
ed with  wonder  at  the  store  for  a  while  and  then 
raffled  ofif  for  $400  for  the  benefit  of  a  projected 
miners'  hospital.     This  spring    an    enterprising 


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KLONDIKE. 


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Juneau  man  drove  forty  head  of  cattle  in  from 
the  coast — 8ob  miles — and  beef  went  at  50  an«i 
then  at  70  cents  a  pound.  If  anybody  gets  sick 
there  are  patent  medicines  in  the  stores,  and  four 
or  five  doctors  who  diagnose  a  patient's  claim 
before  presenting  the  bill. 

Winter  in  the  Yukon  Basin  is  not  altogether 
an  unbearable  season.  The  thermometer  often 
falls  to  70  and  even  80  degrees  below  zero,  but 
there  is  neither  wind  nor  moisture,  and  the  ex- 
treme cold  is  not  then  realized.  When  working 
out  of  doors  a  miner  wears  a  thermometer  as  he 
wears  a  watch.  He  consults  it  everv  now  and 
then  for  prudence's  sake,  and  when  the  mercury 
freezes  he  knows  that  it  is  time  to  go  in. 

Most  miners  adopt  the  native  dress  of  skin 
trousers  and  parka.  The  best  of  these  shirt-like 
garments  are  brought  over  from  Siberia,  and 
find  ready  sale  at  $25. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  boots,  the  water  boot, 
made  of  seal  and  walrus  skins,  and  the  dry  wea- 
ther or  winter  boot,  made  in  all  sorts  of  fashions, 
some  with  picturesque  fur  trimming.  The  boots 
as  a  rule  are  the  handiwork  of  the  coast  Indians. 
They  range  in  price  from  $2  to  $5  a  pair.  Trou- 
sers are  made  of  Siberian  fawn  skin  and  the  skin 


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of  the  marmot  or  ground  squirrel.  The  parka 
or  upper  garment  is  usually  made  of  marmot 
skins  and  trimmed  with  wolverine  around  the 
hood  and  lower  edge.  These  parkas  arc  5om.> 
times  very  elaborate,  with  hair  six  inches  in 
length  hanging  from  the  hood  to  protect  the 
face,  or  made  of  fawn  skins  and  trimmed  with 
the  fur  of  the  white  wolf.  These  elaborate  par- 
kas are  usually  worn  by  the  women  and  diflfer 
in  shape  somewhat  from  those  worn  by  the  men. 
They  are  sometimes  beautifully  embroidered 
with  colored  skins  and  ornamented  with  otter's 
fur  and  dyed  feather^,  and  ibey  have  been  known 
to  cost  as  high  as  $ioo  apiece.  Flannels  are 
worn  underneath  and  the  dress  is  described  by 
those  who  have  worn  it  as  weighing  less  than 
the  ordinary  clothes  of  a  country  where  the  ther- 
mometer only  falls  to  zero. 

Women  who  have  drifted  in  from  the  coast 
received  an  odd  rebuke  from  Captain  Constan- 
tine,  of  the  Territorial  police.  The  women  nat- 
urally put  on  bloomers  in  coming  over  the 
mountains,  and  when  they  got  on  the  other  side 
they  continued  to  wear  bloomers  altogctlicr. 
Bloomers  were  more  than  Captain  Constant!  ic 
would  stand,  and  he  gave  orders  thnt  if  the  bloo- 
mers did  not  I70  the  wearers  would. 


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70 


KLONDIKK. 


Help  is  scarce.  Indians  who  cannot  speak 
either  English  or  Chinook  receive  $60  per 
month  and  all  the  tobacco  tliey  can  use.  Tlic-^e 
are  willing  to  help,  but  with  the  judgment  of 
children.  Every  white  man  that  will  act  as  boss 
of  a  gang  is  pressed  into  service. 

Gold  dust  and  nuggets  take  the  place  of  cur- 
rency in  the  new  diggings  and  throughout  the 
Yukon  Basin.  There  is  little  money  in  circula- 
tion. Every  man  carries  a  pair  of  gold  scales, 
and  people  learn  to  make  change  as  quickly  as 
with  coin.  A  hair  cut  costs  75  cents  in  gold  dust, 
a  glass  of  whisky  50  cents,  and  d-uring  the  winter 
season,  when  the  thermometer  ranges  between 
zero  and  70  degrees  below,  whisky  is  sometimes 
sold  in  solid  blocks.  The  established  value  of 
gold  is  $15.50  per  ounce.  Nuggets  of  one  and 
two  ounces  are  by  no  means  uncommon. 

The  principal  sport  with  mining  men  is  found 
around  the  gambling  table.  There  they  gather 
after  nightfall  and  play  until  the  late  hours  in 
the  morning.  They  have  some  big  games,  too. 
It  sometimes  costs  as  much  as  fifty  dollars  to 
draw  a  card.  A  game  with  $2000  as  stakes  is 
an  ordinary  event.  But  with  all  that  there  has 
not  been  any  decided  trouble.    If  a  man  is  fussy 


i 


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LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


71 


I 


and  quarrelsome,  he  is  quietly  told  to  get  out  of 
the  game,  and  that  is  the  end  of  it. 

Drinks  are  50  cents,  and  returned  miners  say 
that  when  they  left  some  of  the  saloons  were  tak- 
ing in  $1000  to  $2000  a  day. 

Whisky  will  be  plentiful  hereafter,  even  if  food 
is  not.  One  trader  has  secured  a  permit  to  send 
in  2000  gallons  of  liquor. 

The  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  the 
Northwestern  Transportation  and  Trading  Com- 
pany have  each  received  permission  to  ship  across 
the  border  5000  gallons. 

Many  people  have  an  idea  that  Dawson  City 
is  completely  isolated  and  can  communicate  with 
the  outside  world  only  once  in  twelve  months. 
That  is  a  mistake.  Circle  City,  only  200  miles 
away,  has  a  mail  once  each  month,  and  there  the 
Dawson  City  men  have  their  mail  addressed.  It 
is  true  the  cost  is  pretty  high,  one  dollar  a  letter 
and  two  dollars  for  a  paper;  yet  by  that  expendi- 
ture of  money  they  are  able  to  keep  in  direct  com- 
munication with  their  friends  on  the  outside. 

The  camp  is  at  present  without  any  public  in- 
stitutions, but  by  next  season  they  will  have  a 
church,  a  music  hall,  a  school  house  and  a  hos- 
pital.   This  last  institution  will  be  under  the  di- 


72 


KLONDIKE. 


m 


rect  control  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  who  have 
already  been  stationed  for  a  long  time  at  Citclc 
City  and  Forty  Mile  Camp.  Nearly  a  score  of 
children  were  in  Dawson  City  when  the  last  party 
left,  and  Joseph  Ladue,  who  owns  the  town  site, 
donated  a  lot  and  one  hundred  dollars  for  a 
school.  No  one  can  buy  an  ling  on  credit  in 
Dawson.  It  is  spot  cash  for  e .  cry  one,  and  pay 
ment  is  always  gold  dust.  Very  few  have  any 
regular  money. 

The  niosquito  is  an  almost  intolerable  pest. 
In  the  Vukon  region  he  is  so  small  that  the  finest 
netting  cannot  keep  him  out,  but  his.  voracity  is 
seemingly  boundless. 

During  the  summer  this  pest  gives  the  popula- 
tion no  rest.  The  deepest  canon  and  the  loftiest 
mountain  top,  the  open  ground  or  the  thickest 
forest  being  equally  infested.  The  only  relief,  if 
it  can  be  called  relief,  is  when  the  winds  blow 
the  insects  to  less  windy  altitudes;  but  it  is  not 
an  every  day  occurrence  for  the  wind  to  blow. 
Lieutenant  Schwatka,  in  his  account  of  his  trip 
to  Alaska,  says  that  bears  under  stress  of  hunger 
sometimes  come  down  to  the  river  in  mosquito 
season  and  are  attacked  by  swarms  of  insects, 
which  sting  them  about  the  eyes  so  that  they  gc^ 
blind  and  die  of  starvation. 


LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


78 


Late  reports  from  Dawson  arc  of  a  kind  to 
make  those  -even  with  the  stoutest  hearts  turn 
back  from  their  quest  for  gokl  and  await  a  more 
propitious  time.  The  town  is  running^  on  short 
rations,  and  with  the  incoming  horde  of  miners 
there  is  fear  of  famine  before  the  opening  ol"  traffic 
permits  the  importation  of  new  supplies.  There 
are  now  in  Dawson  and  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood dependent  upon  the  town  for  supphes 
over  5000  men,  and  otliers  are  coming  in  along 
the  overland  route.  The  supplies  for  th-e  winter, 
on  September  i,  were  sufficient  only  for  2500 
men,  and  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and 
the  North  American  Transportation  and  Trading 
Company  were  not  in  position  to  carry  food  for 
more  than  2000  others  up  the  river.  Just  how  the 
population  of  Dawson  is  going  to  live  through 
the  winter  is  not  clear.  It  is  expected  that  the 
scarcity  of  food  in  Dawson  will  compel  many 
miners  to  seek  the  old  fields  farther  down  the 
river  at  CircHe  City  and  Forty  Mile,  which  have 
been  d?serted  of  late,  but  which  contain  supplies. 

It  is  characteristic  of  all  the  Yukon  diggings 
that  in  spite  of  the  privation  which  miners  have 
been  called  on  to  endure  there  has  been  the  ut- 
most forbearance  and  generosity  among  them. 


74 


KLONDIKE. 


II 

pi'  i  I 


Men  on  short  allowance  have  not  hesitated  to 
share  their  litttle  with  others  who  were  worse  off. 
In  spite  of  all  reports,  and  in  spite  of  many  cases 
of  destitution,  it  appears  that  such  a  thing  as  star- 
vation has  not  been  known.  Suffering  there  has 
been  and  privation,  but  the  hardy  men  who  have 
cast  their  lot  in  the  forijidding  country  have 
shown  the  best  instincts  of  t'heir  race,  and  in  the 
midst  of  their  struggle  for  gold  have  turned  aside 
to  he'p  their  less  fortunate  neighbors.  How  it 
will  be  with  new  adventurers  pressing  their  way 
in  to  forage  on  the  limited  supplies  remains  to  be 
seen.  Not  until  February  can  stufT  be  freighted 
over  from  Dyea,  Juneau  and  other  points  down 
along  the  southern  coast.  Prices  for  food  and 
other  supplies  were  almost  beyond  belief  last  win- 
ter. Flour  was  $120  a  hundred  weight  at  one 
time,  and  beef  from  $1  to  $2  a  pound.  Moose 
hams  sold  for  about  $30.  or  $2  a  pound.  Ordi- 
nary shovels  for  digging  brought  $17  and  $t8 
apiece.  A  few  crates  of  eggs  were  brought  in 
about  March  i  by  paci<  horses,  and  these  sold 
readily  for  $3  to  $5  a  do:en.  They  were  not  fresh 
by  any  means. 

Wages,  however,  were  proportional;  $2  per 
hour  were  common  wages  and  even  in  the  sum- 
mer a  man  ''an  command  $1.50  per  hour. 


^^Yr' 


\ 


1 


LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


75 


A  nv:  .'  arrival  at  Dawson  City,  writing  to  his 
brother,  says: 

"This  is  a  great  camp,  and  a  conservative  es- 
timate C£  its  richness  sounds  like  exaggeration. 
I  have  been  here  nov/  twelve  days  and  cannot 
get  a  hold  of  anything.  I  cannot  even  buy  a 
foot  of  ground  in  the  town,  not  to  mention  the 
diggings,  values  are  so  extremely  high.  Every 
foot  of  ground  in  this  district  is  claimed,  and 
there  are  hundreds  of  prospectors  in  the  adjaceiit 
country  looking  for  other  rich  ground.  The 
gravel  must  be  very  rich  in  gold  or  nobod} 
wants  it.  From  the  amount  of  gold  dust  and 
nuggets  I  have  seen  in  Klondike,  and  the  mad 
hunt  for  it,  the  district  must  be  all  they  claim 
for  it." 

The  mines  of  the  Yukon  are  of  a  class  by 
themselves,  and  it  is  necessary  to  follow  new 
methods  for  getting  the  gold.  To  begin  with, 
the  ground  is  frozen.  From  the  roots  of  the 
moss,  which  is  often  a  foot  thick,  to  the  greatest 
depth  that  ever  has  been  reached  the  ground  is 
as  hard  as  a  bone.  The  gold  is  found  in  a  cer- 
tain drift  of  gravel,  which  lies  at  varying  depths, 
often  as  far  down  as  twenty  feet.  Only  that  por- 
tion of  the  gravel  just  above  hard  pan — by  whi'  h 


Hi;;:.. 


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76 


KLONDIKE. 


is  usually  meant  clay — carries  gold  in  any  quan- 
tity, and  in  favored  localities  this  particular 
gravel  is  extraordinarily  rich. 

As  in  nearly  all  placer  mines,  the  low  pla:.?s 
of  what  has  formerly  been  the  bed  of  the  creek 
are  the  richest,  the  deposits  decreasing  toward 
the  outer  edges. 

The  size  of  a  claim  is  fixed  by  agreement 
among  the  miners  of  any  particular  locality.  Tt 
is  a  section  of  the  creek  of  a  certain  length  — 
sometimes  200  feet,  sometimes  500 — and  it  ex- 
tends from  rim  to  rim  in  width.  The  reason  of 
this  variableness  in  the  size  of  the  claims  on  the 
dilTerent  feeks  is  that  on  some  a  greater  length 
is  requirer'  to  make  them  worth  a  man's  while  to 
work  them.  The  paying  deposits  may  be  scat- 
tered so  a  man  could  make  wages  only  by  work- 
ing here  and  there  over  a  large  territory.  Of 
course,  the  conditions  surrounding  the  first  dis- 
covery made  on  a  creek  are  the  basis  for  fixing 
the  size  of  a  claim  on  that  stream.  The  discov- 
erer of  a  new  field  is  allowed  two  claims,  while 
all  others  are  permitted  to  take  but  one  at  a  time. 
However,  when  a  locater  has  worked  out  his  as- 
sessment of  a  few  days'  work  lie  is  ai  liberty  to 
take  another.    When  a  sufficient  number  of  men 


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LIFE  IN  CAMP. 


arrive  on  a  new  creek  to  make  it  impracticable 
to  work  together  in  harmony  without  organiza- 
tion, they  hold  a  meeting  and  elect  one  of  their 
number  as  a  register  or  clerk,  and  thereafter  a 
record  is  made  of  all  locations  and  all  transfers, 
for  which  a  small  fee  is  charged. 

In  prospecting  the  usual  method  is  followed, 
i.  e.,  sinking  holes  to  bed  rock  across  the  stream 
and  testing  the  dirt  until  the  pay  streak  is  found. 

Having  located  his  claim,  the  miner  scrapes 
off  as  much  moss  as  he  can,  and,  turning  a 
stream  of  water  on  to  the  frozen  ground,  grad- 
ually thaws,  scrapes  and  digs  his  ditch.  The 
gold  lies  at  bed  rock,  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  below 
the  surface.  A  drainage  ditch  must  then  be  dug, 
a  dam  built  and  sluice  boxes  placed. 

Winter  mining  has  been  experimented  with 
to  some  extent.  Work  cannot  be  started  until 
the  cold  weatiier  is  settled  beyond  the  possibility 
of  a  surface  thaw,  nor  can  it  be  continued  beyond 
the  first  promise  of  spring.  A  fire  is  built  and 
kept  burning  until  the  ground  beneath  is  thawed 
to  bed  rock,  after  which  the  drift  is  removed, 
leaving  a  hole  several  feet  wide.  By  banking 
the  fires  against  the  side  of  the  hole  every  nigiit 
and   removing  the   soft  earth  next  morning,   ;r 


78 


KLONDIKE. 


tunnel  is  formed.  A  foot  and  a  half  a  day  is  as 
much  as  the  greatest  industry  can  accomplisli, 
but  that  amounts  to  150  feet  in  the  season.  The 
pay  dirt  is  piled  up  and  is  not  washed  until  ihe 
following  spring. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 

Professor  N.  S.  Shaler,  who  is  perhaps  the 
best  living  American  authority  on  geology,  has 
been  telling  his  classes  at  Harvard  for  the  last 
twenty  years  that  the  coming  great  discoveries 
of  gold  on  this  continent  would  be  in  Alaska. 
The  possibilities  for  bonanza  finds  among  the 
Sierras,  he  explained,  had  been  narrowed  to  a 
point  where  there  was  little  opportunity  except 
to  develop  known  veins,  but  in  the  great  exten- 
sion of  the  Rocky  Mountain  system  to  the  Norih 
there  doubtless  lay  the  mother  vein,  which  soon- 
er or  later  would  come  to  light. 

Professor  Shaler's  prophecy,  based  on  scien- 
tific deductions,  has  come  true,  and  other  scien- 


Z3       o 
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P^    X 


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CO 


MI^IN(i  EXPKRTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


79 


tists  now  agree  with  liini  that  the  Alaskan  coun- 
try contains  limitless  possibilities  for  the  discov- 
ery of  gold. 

And  not  the  scientists  alone.  So  hard-headed 
a  pioneer  as  John  \V.  ]\Iackay,  the  last  and  great- 
est of  the  bonanza  kings,  who  went  into  the  Cal- 
ifornia gold  fields  and  dug  out  a  fabulous  for- 
tune, which  has  been  growing  ever  since,  ex- 
presses his  belief  in  the  reports  of  the  marvelous 
richness  of  the  newly-discovered  fields. 

"I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  them,"  he  says. 
"I  have  had  great  confidence  in  tne  mining  pos- 
sibilities in  British  Columbia  and  Alaska — have 
always  believed  that  those  frozen,  almost  inac- 
cessible regions  contain  heavy  deposits  of  pre- 
cious metals.  Some  enormous  'finds'  of  gold 
have  undoubtedly  been  made  there,  and  yet  we 
know  little  or  nothing  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
country.  Think  of  Williams'  Creek,  for  instance, 
in  the  Caribou  region  in  British  Columbia.  As 
long  ago  as  i860  something  like  fifty  millions  cf 
gold  were  taken  out.  It  was  placer  mining  there, 
just  the  same  as  the  Klondike." 

Mr.  Mackay  believes  that  in  time  modern  min- 
ing methods  will  be  carried  up  into  the  Yukon 
country,  and  that  all  parts  of  the  country  will  be 


t3 


mil 

m 


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as  ; 


80 


KLONDIKE. 


Opened.  "Capital,"  he  says,  "will  always  go 
where  there  is  a  chance  for  legitimate  investment, 
and  transportation  facilities  will  increase  as  rap- 
idly as  the  travelers." 

Mr.  Mackay  diinks  the  excitement  over  the 
discoveries  may  increase.  "I  see  in  it,"  he  says, 
"something  like  the  excitement  of  the  early  fifties 
over  the  gold  discoveries  of  the  Pacific  coast  re- 
gion. The  reports  of  rich  individual  finds  are 
likely  to  continue,  and  the  arrival  of  every  ship 
loaded  with  fortunate  gold  hunters  will  stimu- 
late the  imagination,  hopes  and  desires  of  the 
would-be  gold  hunters.  We  hear  nothing  of  the 
failures.  One  man  who  is  lucky  is  more  talked 
about  than  a  thousand  who  fail." 

Mr.  Mackay  says  that  his  experience  in  Cali- 
fornia was  that  about  one  man  in  ten  used  to  get 
on,  and  by  "getting  on"  he  means  not  becoming 
a  millionaire,  but  making  a  living  and  a  little 
more. 

R.  E.  Preston,  the  Director  of  the  United 
States  Mint,  has  become  convinced  of  the  great 
possibilities  in  the  Klondike  region.  While  he 
thinks  it  is  as  yet  too  early  to  hail  the  Klondike 
as  a  new  Eldorado,  he  says  the  history  of  gold 
production   in    Alaska   hitherto   would   prepare 


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MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


81 


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the  mind  for  the  acceptance  of  a  beHef  in  the 
Hkelihood  of  further  gold  discoveries  in  that  re- 
gion or  its  proximity. 

"The  gold  product  of  Alaska  thus  far,"  he  sayn, 
"has  been  remarkable  rather  for  its  regularity 
than  its  amount,  and  is  therefore  more  favorable 
to  the  permanency  of  development  of  the  mineral 
resources  than  if  it  were  subject  to  violent  tluc- 
tual"   n. 

"Nature  seems  to  have  sprinkled  Alaska  and 
all  Asiatic  Russia  with  gold.  The  latter  region 
sends  annually  over  $25,000,000  to  the  mint  at 
St.  Petersburg.  The  production  of  gold  there  is 
such  that  the  annual  output  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire would,  it  is  claimed,  exceed  $50,000,000 
were  it  not  for  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of 
human  industry  by  an  inclement  climate  and  an 
inhospitable  soil." 

Dr.  W.  H*  Dall,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion at  Washington,  who  has  for  years  been  re- 
garded as  the  highest  authority  on  the  Alaskan 
country  and  who  is  a  geologist  of  note,  says  he 
has  no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  stories  told  of 
the  richness  of  the  Yukon  soil. 

"The  gold-bearing  belt  of  Northwestern 
America,"  he  says,  "contains  all  the  gold  fields 
6 


82 


KLONDIKE. 


i 


\m  y 


I      :1 


extending  into  British  Columbia  and  what  is 
known  as  the  Northwest  Territories  and  Alaska. 
The  Yukon  really  runs  along  in  that  belt  for  500 
or  600  miles.  The  bed  of  the  main  river  is  In 
the  valley.  The  yellow  metal  is  not  found  in 
paying  quantities  in  the  main  river,  but  in  the 
small  streams  which  cut  through  the  mountains 
on  either  side.  Mud  and  mineral  matter  are  car- 
ried into  the  main  river,  while  the  gold  is  left  on 
the  rough  bottom  of  these  side  streams.  In  most 
cases  the  gold  lies  at  the  bottom  of  thick  gravel 
deposits.  The  gold  is  covered  with  frozen  gravel 
in  the  winter.  During  the  summer  until  the 
snow  is  all  melted,  the  surface  is  covered  with 
muddy  torrents.  When  summer  is  over  and  the 
springs  begin  to  freeze,  the  streams  dry  up.  At 
the  approach  of  winter,  in  order  to  get  at  the 
gold  the  miners  find  it  necessary  to  dig  into  the 
gravel  formation." 

George  Frederick  Wright,  professor  of  geol- 
ogy at  Oberlin  College,  thinks  that  the  "mother 
lode"  may  be  looked  for  successfully  in  Alaska. 
In  his  opinion  it  exists  somewhere  up  ^  e 
streams  on  which  the  placer  mines  are  found. 
The  source  of  the  Klondike  gold,  he  says,  is 
from  the   south,  and    the    gold    was  doubtless 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


83 


transported  by  glacier  action.  The  Klondike  re- 
gion is  on  the  north  side  of  the  St.  Elias  Alps, 
and  the  glaciers  flowed  both  north  and  south 
from  these  summits. 

"Placer  mines,"  says  Professor  Wright,  "orig- 
inate in  the  disintegration  of  gold-bearing  quartz 
veins,  or  mass  like  that  at  Juneau.  Under  sub- 
aerial  agencies  these  become  dissolved.  Then 
tne  glaciers  transport  the  material  as  far  as  they 
go,  when  the  floods  of  water  carry  it  on  still  fur- 
ther. Gold,  being  heavier  than  the  other  ma- 
terials associated  with  it,  lodges  in  the  crevices 
or  in  the  rough  places  at  the  bottom  of  the 
streams.  So  to  speak,  nature  has  stamped  and 
'panned'  the  gravel  first  and  prepared  the  way 
for  man  to  finish  the  work.  The  amount  of  gold 
found  in  the  placer  mines  is  evidence  not  so 
much,  perhaps,  of  a  very  rich  vein  as  of  the  dis- 
integration of  a  very  large  vein." 

"What  the  prospectors  have  found  points  to 
more.  The  unexplored  region  is  immense.  The 
mountains  to  the  south  are  young,  havmg  been 
elevated  very  much  since  the  climax  of  the  gla- 
cial period.  With  these  discoveries  and  the  suc- 
cess in  introducing  reindeer.  Alaska  bids  fair  to 
support  a  population  eventually  of  several  mil- 
lions." 


'I     1 


\i 


\\-:ti 


111 


84 


KLONDIKE. 


William  Van  Slooten.  an  eni.\ient  mining  en- 
gineer and  metallurgist,  sees  in  the  reports  from 
the  Klondike  indications  of  a  more  extraordi- 
nary deposit  of  gold  than  that  of  Oj'''''-mia.  He 
says: 

"No  such  specifically  large  amounts  of  gold 
were  taken  out  by  individuals  during  any  similar 
period  of  California  gold  hunting.  Two  months 
of  work  in  the  water  has  realized  more  than  any 
six  months  heretofore  known  in  the  history  of 
gold  mining. 

"We  had  long  been  aware  that  there  was  gold 
in  tne  Yukon  basin,  but  the  total  output  for  the 
last  ten  years  before  the  Klondike  developm.cnrs 
amounted  to  not  more  than  a  million  doriai?' 
worth  at  the  utmost.  Now,  within  two  »r>  ;nt!is, 
five  millions  have  been  taken  out  of  th.  \  '■'■ 
dike  regions.  It  took  the  first  eight  months  of 
work  in  California  to  pan  out  that  amount  undtr 
infinitely  more  favorable  conditions  of  climate 
and  weather.    That  is  a  straw  worth  noting." 

The  latest  and  therefore  the  most  impor'.ant 
ofBcial  investigation  of  the  gold  fields  is  that 
conuducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  V.  S,  Geo- 
logical Srvey  in  1896  by  J.  Edward  ^ir^ii^r.  ac- 
companies' by  H.B.  Goodrich  and  F.  C.S>  leader 


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MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


86 


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The  expedition  was  sent  out  in  accordance  with 
an  appropriation  by  Congress  of  $5000  for  the 
investigation  of  the  coal  and  gold  resources  of 
Alaska.  A  like  appropriation  for  the  year  be- 
fore resulted  in  the  expedition  headed  by  Dr. 
George  F.  Becker,  which  investigated  the  gold 
fields  of  Southern  Alaska.  Mr.  Spurr's  party 
crossed  the  Chilkoot  Pass  about  the  middle  of 
June  and  passed  down  the  Yukon  in  a  small, 
roughly-built  boat  to  the  crossing  of  Forty-Mile 
Creek.  A  summary  of  his  report  was  submitted 
to  Congress  by  the  director  of  the  Geological 
Survey  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
February  2,  1897.  Mr.  Spurr's  party  and  Dr. 
Becker's  both  took  numerous  photographs  along 
the  routes  they  traversed.  It  appears  from  Mr. 
Spurr's  report  that  the  gold  belt  is  likely  to  be 
found  runnin.o:  in  a  direction  a  litde  west  of  north- 
west. 
"Running  in  a  direction  a  little  west  of  nortli- 
west  through  the  territory  examined  is  a  broad, 
continuous  belt  of  highly  altered  rocks.  To  the 
east  this  belt  is  known  to  be  continuous  for  100 
miles  or  more  in  Biitish  territory.  The  rocks 
constituting  this  belt  are  mostly  crystalline 
schists    associated    with    marbles    and    sheared 


«l 


u 


1  V 

t     t 


1    t>'W 


m 


86 


KLONDIKE. 


quartzites,  indicating  a  sedimentary  origin  for  n 
large  part  of  the  series.  In  the  upper  ])art  a  fevv 
plant  remains  were  found,  which  suggest  that 
this  portion  is  probably  of  Devonian  age.  These 
altered  sedimentary  rocks  have  been  snattered  by 
volcanic  action,  and  they  are  pierced  by  many 
dikes  of  eruptive  rock.  Besides  the  minor  vol- 
canic disturbances,  there  have  been  others  on  a 
large  scale,  which  have  resulted  in  the  formation 
of  continuous  ridges  or  mountain  ranges.  In 
this  process  of  mountain  building  the  sedimen- 
tary rocks  have  been  subjected  to  such  pressure 
and  to  such  alteration  from  attendant  forces  that 
they  have  been  squeezed  into  the  condition  of 
schist,  and  often  partly  or  wholly  crystallized,  so 
that  their  original  character  has  in  some  cases 
entirely  disappeared.  In  summarizing,  it  may  b::^ 
said  that  the  rocks  of  the  gold  belt  of  Alaska  con- 
sist largely  of  sedimentary  beds  older  than  the 
Carboniferous  period;  that  these  beds  have  un- 
derp-one  extensive  alteration,  and  have  been  ele- 
vated into  mountain  ranges  and  cut  through  by 
a  variety  of  igneous  rocks. 

"Throug'hout  these  altered  rocks  there  are 
found  veins  of  quartz  often  carrying  pyrite  and 
gold.     It  appears  that  these  quartz  veins  were 


J 


MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


87 


formed  during  the  disturbance  attending  the  up- 
Hft  and  alteration  of  the  beds.  Many  of  the  veins 
have  been  cut,  sheared  and  ton  into  fragments 
by  the  force  that  has  transformed  the  sedimen- 
tary rocks  into  crystalhne  schist;  but  there  are 
others,  containing  gold,  silver  and  copper,  that 
have  not  been  very  much  disturbed  or  broken. 
These  more  continuous  ore-bearing  zones  have 
not  the  character  of  ordinary  quartz  veins,  al- 
though they  contain  much  silica.  Instead  of  the 
usual  white  quartz  veins,  the  ore  occurs  in  a 
sheared  and  altered  zone  of  rock  and  gradually 
runs  out  on  both  sides.  So  far  as  yet  known, 
these  continuous  zones  of  ore  are  of  relatively 
low  grade.  Concerning  the  veins  of  white  quartz 
first  mentioned,  it  is  certain  that  most  of  them 
which  contain  gold  carry  it  only  in  small  quan- 
tity, and  yet  some  few  are  known  to  be  very  rich 
in  places,  and  it  is  extremely  probable  that  there 
are  many  in  which  the  whole  of  the  ore  is  of 
comparatively  high  grade. 

"No  quartz  or  vein  mining  of  any  kind  has  yet 
been  attempted  in  the  Yukon  district,  mainly  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  with  which  supplies, 
machinery  and  labor  can  be  obtained;  yet  it  is 
certain  that  there  is  a  vast  quantity  of  gold  in 


S?4i 


'in 


Hi 


n 


88 


KLONDIKE. 


these  rocks,  much  of  which  could  be  profitably 
extracted  under  favorable  conditions.  The  gen- 
eral character  of  the  rocks  and  of  the  ore  depos- 
its is  extremely  like  that  of  the  gold-bearing  for- 
mations along  the  southern  coast  of  Alaska,  in 
which  ♦^he  Treadwell  and  other  mines  are  situ- 
ated, and  it  is  prdbable  that  the  richness  of  the 
Yukon  ocks  is  approximately  equal  to  that  of 
the  coast  belt.  It  may  be  added  that  the  re- 
sources of  the  coast  belt  have  been  only  partially 
explored. 

"Besides  the  gold  found  in  the  rocks  of  the  Yu- 
kon district  there  is  reason  to  expect  paying 
quantities  of  other  minerals.  Deposits  of  silver- 
bearing  lead  have  been  found  in  ?  number  of  lo- 
calities, and  copper  is  also  a  constituent  of  many 
of  the  ores. 

"Since  the  formation  of  the  veins  and  other  de- 
posits of  the  rocks  of  the  gold  belt  an  enormous 
length  of  time  has  elapsed.  During  that  time  the 
forces  of  erosion  have  stripped  oflF  the  overlying 
rocks  and  exposed  the  metalliferous  veins  at  the 
surface  for  long  periods,  and  the  rocks  of  the 
gold  belt,  with  the  veins  which  they  include, 
have  crumbled  and  been  carried  away  by  the 
streams,  to  be  deposited  in  widely  different  places 


min:ng  kxpekts  and  scientists. 


89 


as  gravels,  or  sands,  or  muds.  As  gold  is  the 
heaviest  of  all  materials  found  in  rock,  it  is  con- 
centrated in  detritus  which  has  been  worked  over 
by  stream  action;  and  the  richness  of  the  placers 
depends  upon  the  available  gold  supply,  the 
amount  of  available  detritus,  and  the  character 
of  the  streams  which  caryy  this  detritus  away. 
In  Alaska  the  streams  have  been  carrying  away 
the  gold  from  the  metalliferous  belt  for  a  very 
long  period,  so  that  particles  of  the  precious 
metal  are  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory. It  is  only  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  th.o 
gold-bearing  belt,  however,  that  the  particles  of 
gold  are  large  and  plentiful  enough  to  repay 
working,  under  present  conditions.  Where  a 
stream  heads  in  the  gold  belt,  the  richest  dig- 
gings are  likely  to  be  near  its  extreme  upper 
part. 

"In  this  upper  part  the  current  is  so  swift  that 
the  lighter  material  and  the  finer  gold  are  car- 
ried away,  leaving  in  many  places  a  rich  deposit 
of  coarse  gold  overlain  by  coarse  gravel,  the  peb- 
bles being  so  large  as  to  hinder  rapid  transporta- 
tion by  water.  It  is  under  such  conditions  that 
the  diggings  which  are  now  being  worked  are 
found,  with  some  unimportant  exceptions.    The 


I  I 


I  ': 


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m 


eo 


KLONDIKE. 


tiV 


m 


rich  gulches  of  the  Forty  Mile  district  and  of  the 
Birch  Creek  district,  as  well  as  other  fields  of  less 
importance,  all  head  in  the  gold-bearing  forma- 
tion. 

"A  short  distance  below  the  heads  of  these 
gulches  the  stream  valley  broadens  and  the  grav- 
els contain  finer  gold  more  widely  distributed. 
Along  certain  parts  of  the  stream  this  finer  gold 
is  concentrated  by  favorable  currents  and  is  of- 
ten profitably  washed,  this  kind  of  deposit  com- 
ing under  the  head  of  "bar  diggings."  The  gold 
in  these  more  extensive  gravels  is  often  present 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  encourage  the  hope  of 
successful  extraction  at  some  future  time,  when 
the  work  can  be  done  more  cheaply  and  with 
suitable  machinery.  The  extent  of  these  gravels 
which  are  of  possible  value  is  very  great.  As  the 
field  of  observation  is  extended  farther  and  far- 
ther from  the  gold-bearing  belt,  the  gold  occurs 
in  finer  and  finer  condition,  until  it  is  found  only 
in  extremely  small  flakes,  so  light  that  they  can 
be  carried  long  distances  by  the  current. 

"It  may  be  stated,  therefore,  as  a  general  rule, 
that  the  profitable  gravels  are  found  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  gold  bearing  rock. 

"The    gold-bearing  belt  forms  a  range  of  low 


MINING  EXl'ERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


01 


mountains,  and  on  the  flanks  of  these  mountains, 
to  the  northeast  and  to  the  southwest,  He  various 
younger  rocks  vvliich  range  in  age  from  Carbon- 
iferous to  very  recent  Tertiary,  and  are  made  up 
mostly  of  conglomerates,  sandstones  and  shales, 
with  some  volcanic  material.  These  rocks  were 
formed  subsequent  to  the  ore  deposition,  and 
therefore  do  not  contain  metalliferous  veins. 
They  have  been  partly  derived,  however,  from 
detritus  worn  from  the  gold-bearing  belt  durini; 
the  long  period  that  it  has  been  exposed  to  ero 
sion,  and  some  of  them  contain  gold  derived  from 
the  more  ancient  rocks  and  concentrated  in  the 
same  way  as  is  the  gold  in  the  present  river  grav  - 
els.  In  one  or  two  places  it  is  certain  that  these 
conglomerates  are  really  fossil  placers,  and  this 
source  of  supply  may  eventually  turn  out  to  be 
very  important. 

"In  the  younger  rocks  which  overlie  the  gold- 
bearing  series  there  are  beds  f;f  biack,  hard,  glos- 
sy, very  pure  lignitic  coal.  An  area  of  these 
coal-bearing  strata  lies  very  close  to  the  gold- 
bearing  district,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  region 
examined,  and  as  the  beds  of  coal  are  often  of 
considerable  thickness  and  the  coal  in  some  of 
them  leaves  very  little  ash  and  contains  volatile 


1 


92 


KLONDIKE. 


constituents  in  considerable  amount,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  coal  deposits  will  become  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  the  country. 
"There  were  probably  2000  miners  in  the  Yu- 
kon district  during  the  past  season,  the  larger 
Lumber  of  whom  were  actually  engaged  in  wash- 
ing gold.  Probably  1500  of  them  were  working 
in  American  territory,  although  the  Tation 
from  one  district  to  another  is  so  rapi..  .at  one 
year  the  larger  part  of  the  population  may  be  in 
American  territory  and  the  next  year  in  British. 
As  a  rule,  however,  the  miners  prefer  the  Amer- 
ican side,  on  account  of  the  difference  in  mining 
laws.  These  miners,  with  few  exceptions,  were 
engaged  in  gulch  digging.  The  high  price  of 
provisions  and  other  necessaries  raises  the  price 
of  ordinary  labor  in  the  mines  to  $10  per  day, 
and  therefore  no  mine  which  pays  less  than  this 
to  each  man  working  can  be  even  temporarily 
handled.  Yet  in  spite  of  these  difficulties  there 
were  probably  taken  out  of  the  Yukon  district 
the  past  season,  mostly  from  American  territory, 
approximately  $1,000,000  worth  of  gold." 

An  overland  route  should  be  surveyed  and 
'onstructed  to  the  interior  of  Alaska.  All  the 
best  routes  which  can  be  suggested  pass  through 


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MINING  EXPERTS  AND  SCIENTISTS. 


93 


British  territory,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  two 
governments  would  be  mutually  beneficial,  since 
the  gold  belt  lies  partly  in  American  and  partly 
in  British  possessions.  At  the  present  time  Mr, 
Spurr  thinks  that  the  best  route  lies  from  Juncai 
by  way  of  the  Chilkat  Pass  overland  to  the  Yu- 
kon at  the  junction  with  the  Pelly.  This  trail 
is  the  Dalton  trail  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed, and  it  is  said  to  open  up  a  good 
grazing  country  and  no  great  obstacles  to  over- 
come. The  Chilkat  Pass  is  considerably  lower 
than  the  Chilkoot,  over  which  the  Geological 
Survey  party  of  1896  passed.  If  a  wagon  road, 
or  even  a  good  horse  trail,  could  be  built  as  in- 
dicated, the  cost  of  provisions  and  other  supplies 
would  be  greatly  reduced,  many  gravels  now 
useless  could  be  profitably  worked,  and  employ- 
ment would  be  afforded  for  many  men.  With 
the  greater  development  of  placer  diggings  would 
come  the  devcl  pment  of  mines  in  the  bed  rock. 
Besides  th  ■  coal  which  has  been  alluded  to 
there  is  abundant  timber  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  interior  of  Alaska,  along  the  valleys  of 
the  Yukon.  For  four  or  five  months  in  the  sum 
mer  the  climate  is  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  that  of  the  northern  United  States — Min- 


94 


KLONDIKE. 


J  ss- 


nesota  or  Montana,  for  example,  and  although 
the  winters  are  very  severe,  the  snowfall  is  not 
heavy.  Work  could  be  carried  on  underground 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  year  quite  as  well  as 
in  the  higher  mountains  of  Colorado. 

The  area  hastily  examined  during  the  past 
season  is  but  a  portion  of  the  great  interior  of 
Alaska.  That  gold  occurs  over  a  large  extent 
of  country  has  been  determined,  but  the  richness 
of  the  various  veins  and  lodes  remains  to  be  as- 
certained by  actual  mining  operations.  Gold  is 
known  to  occur  in  the  great  unexplored  regions 
south  of  the  Yukon,  because  of  its  presence  in 
the  wash  of  the  streams,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  Yukon  gold  belt  extends  to  the  north 

and  west;  but  this  can  be  determined  only  by 
further  exploration. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 

There  are  four  .stages  in  the  development  of 
newly-discovered  gold  fields,  such  as  those  which 
have  been  brought  to  light  in  the  Yukon  Basin. 

First  come  the  men  with  crude  outfits  and  few 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


»5 


resources,  who,  with  pan  and  pick,  gather  the 
gold  that  hes  near  the  surface,  washing  out  the 
grosser  earths  and  leaving  the  precious  metal 
by  itself.  This  is  placer  mining  in  its  simple 
form. 

After  the  eold  lying  on  the  surface  and  mo>t 
readily  at  hand  has  been  exhausted  a  little  more 
complicated  process  is  called  into  play.  This  is 
conducted  by  groups  or  associations  of  miners 
who  use  "long  Toms"  and  cradles. 

Hydraulic  mining  is  the  third  stage.  In  hy- 
draulics water  is  brought  from  a  long  distance 
and  applied  to  e  pay  dirt  at  great  pressure  in 
order  to  separate  the  gold  from  the  dross. 

Last  of  all  comes  quartz  mining,  or  tearing 
the  gold  by  main  force  out  of  its  beds  .  i  the  rock 
beneath  and  separating  it  by  means  of  stamps 
and  pestles. 

In  the  Yukon  region  the  process  has  not  yet 
passed  the  first  stage,  and  so  rich  are  the  finds 
there  and  so  difficult  the  importation  of  machin- 
ery and  supplies  that  it  may  be  years  before  the 
last  stages  will  become  available,  although  the 
never-satiated  thirst  for  gold,  combined  with 
modern  enterprise  and  ingenuity,  is  Hkely  to 
make  even  the  frozen  rocks  of  Alaska  amenable 
to  modern  appliances. 


u 


96 


KLONDIKE. 


I 


NT 


I 


m 
nil' 

Mil- 


The  history  of  placer  mining  is  full  of  ro- 
mance. It  is  as  old  as  the  world  itself,  if  any 
reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  traditions  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  prehistoric  times. 
Cjold  dust  and  nuggets  came  in  exchange  to  the 
Greeks  from  the  barbarians  of  the  north  centuries 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  it  has  been  sur- 
mised that  the  precious  metal  was  taken  out  of 
the  mines  in  Siberia  and  in  the  Ural  Mountains, 
which  still  yield  so  generously.  The  first  placer 
mining  of  which  there  is  any  record  was  carried 
on  by  digging  the  sand  or  gravel,  mixing  it 
thoroughly  with  water,  and  then  pouring  it  over 
floating  platforms  covered  with  skins,  in  which 
the  gold  settled,  while  the  lighter  sand  flowed  ofif 
with  the  water.  To  this  practice  we  doubtless 
owe  the  mythological  story  of  the  journey  of 
Jason  with  his  Argonauts  in  search  of  the  Golden 
Fleece.  The  Golden  Fleece,  it  has  been  sur- 
mised, was  simply  the  skin  of  the  sheep  which 
was  used  to  catch  these  golden  products  of  the 
placer  miners.  And  it  is  significant  that  the  voy- 
age of  the  Argonauts  was  up  the  Black  Sea  or 
the  Euxine  into  the  very  region  of  the  Ural 
Mountain  gold  fields  which  have  already  been 
mentioned. 


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PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS.  97 

In  ancient  times  all  gold  was  obtained  by 
washing,  and  it  has  been  only  within  recent 
years  that  the  more  difficult  process  of  digging 
and  smelting  gold-bearing  quartz  has  been  re- 
sorted to.  The  wealth  of  the  Indies  consisted 
in  golden  sand,  which  their  rivers  washed  down 
from  the  gold-bearing  mountains.  So  it  was 
with  Russia,  Africa,  Australia  and  California. 
All  the  earlier  mining,  of  which  the  records  are 
so  many  and  so  fascinating,  was  done  by  placers 
in  the  old  primitive  manner.  This  was  true  espe- 
cially of  California.  Mr.  Preston,  the  Director 
of  the  United  States  Mint,  estimates  that  75  per 
cent  .of  the  gold  production  of  the  United  States 
between  1849  and  1865  was  the  result  of  placer 
mining.  This  would  make  a  total  of  nearly  $700,- 
000,000  for  the  United  States  alone,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  placers  who  are  still  at  work  in  ever- 
diminishing  numbers  as  the  ore  becomes  more 
difficult  to  find.  Ore  is  still  being  washed  out  in 
almost  all  the  gold  districts.  California,  Russia 
and  Alaska  ari  examples  in  point.  There  is 
even  a  littk  placer  mining  in  Colorado,  which 
has  been  distinctively  the  home  of  quartz  mining 
from  the  beginningf.  Mr.  Preston  e^-timates  that 
between  fifteen  and  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  Cali- 
7 


^  i 

^ 


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98 


KLOKEIKE. 


fornian  product  is  still  the  result  of  placer  mining, 
and  gives  other  percentages  as  follows: 

Oregon,  Washington,  Montana  and  Idaho,  12 
per  cent. ;  Utah,  8  per  cent. ;  New  Mexico,  6  per 
cent. ;  Colorado,  i  per  cent. 

The  South  African  mines  are  almost  entirely 
quartz  deposits. 

The  beginning  of  placer  mining  in  America 
may  be  said  to  date  from  the  discovery  by  James 
W.  Marshall  of  pieces  of  gold  while  digging  a 
'■rice  for  a  saw  mill  at  Coloma,  California,  Janu- 
ary 19,  1848.  The  announcement  of  his  discov- 
ery was  the  signal  for  an  influx  or  argonauts, 
and  those  who  first  landed  in  California  had  for 
implements  only  the  pick,  shovel,  rocker  and 
wheelbarrow.  This  is  about  the  outfit  of  a  miner 
in  the  Klondike  region  to-day.  It  was  only  a 
few  months,  however,  before  the  necessities  of 
the  case  compelled  the  introduction  of  what  is 
known  as  the  "Long  Tom."  This  is  a  rough 
trough  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length,  narrow  at 
the  top  and  wide  at  the  lower  end,  set  on  an  in- 
cline, with  an  iron  plate  on  the  bottom  perforated 
so  that  the  gold  will  drop  through  as  it  is  wash- 
ed along.  The  "Long  Tom"  is  really  a  develop- 
ment of  the  rocker  or  cradle.     The  rocker   is 


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PLACEk  MININC;  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


09 


what  its  name  implies.  It  has  a  hopper  at  one 
end,  with  a  perforated  bottom,  and  this  stands 
over  an  incHned  canvas  stretcher.  The  gravel  is 
thrown  into  the  hopper,  water  is  poured  over  it 
and  the  cradle  is  rocked.  In  this  way  the  line 
sand  and  the  gold  fall  through  the  holes  on  to  the 
canvas;  the  gold  sticks  fast  and  the  sand  rolls 
away.  The  most  primitive  of  all  placer  mining  is 
the  use  of  the  pan,  which  consists  simply  in  tilling 
an  ordinary  pan  with  pay  dirt,  stirring  it  about 
very  slowly  and  carefully,  pouring  water  over  the 
gravel  at  the  same  time,  so  as  to  wash  away  the 
lighter  dirt  and  let  the  heavier  gold  sink  to  rhe 
bottom.  The  process  is  exceedingly  slow,  but 
in  a  region  like  the  Klondike  it  is  so  full  of  strik- 
ing possibilities  as  to  be  fascinating.  One  of 
those  who  have  just  returned  from  the  Yukon 
describes  how  he  found  no  less  than  a  thousand 
dollars  in  gold  dust  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  thest 
pans  after  washing  away  the  dirt. 

Placer  mining,  which  depends  so  greatly  upon 
the  effect  of  water,  would  seem  to  be  carried  on 
under  difficulties  in  the  Yukon  River  Piasin. 
where  water  is  frozen  solid  during  nearly  seven 
months  of  the  year,  but  the  invention  and  indus- 
try of  the  Americans  now  on  the  field  may  be 


l!       'i 


100 


KLONDIKE. 


depended  upon  to  bring  even  these  hard  condi- 
tions under  their  control,  and  it  may  be  Cvcn 
that  the  miners  there  will  be  using  hydraulic 
methods  before  very  long. 

Hydraulic  mining  is  essentially  the  re'^ult  of 
American  inventive  genius.  It  is  the  perfect  de- 
velopment of  the  early  form  of  placer  mining  as 
illustrated  in  the  cradle  and  the  rocker,  for  't 
may  be  said  that  the  rocker,  which  is  the  n.Hest 
and  simplest  of  all  machines  employed  in  the 
separation  of  gold  from  grav'el,  embodies  all  the 
essential  features  of  the  elaborate  machinery  used 
in  hydraulic  mining.  For  instance,  the  cradle  is 
an  oblong  box,  about  four  feet  in  length,  mount- 
ed on  a  pair  of  transverse  rockers  and  furnished 
with  a  set  of  graded  sieves  laid  in  tiers,  "riffles," 
amalgamated  plates  and  blankets,  for  the  sepa- 
ration and  arrest  of  the  gold  in  its  descent  from 
the  hopper  into  which  the  gold-bearing  gravel 
is  placed,  to  the  outlet  at  the  lower  end.  These 
devices  are  all  present  in  hydraulic  mining,  but 
tliey  are  so  enlarged  as  to  be  hardly  recogniza- 
ble. Hydraulic  mining  may  be  said  to  have  had 
its  origin  in  the  invention  of  the  flume  by  a  Con- 
necticut Yankee  named  Mattison  in  California 
three  years  after  the    discovery  of    gold.     The 


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PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


101 


flume  was  a  very  simple  thing,  consisting  of  a 
trough  to  bring  water  down  the  hillside  from  a 
ditch  over  where  the  mine  was  opened.  The 
first  flume  gave  the  water  a  head  of  about  forty 
feet,  discharging  it  into  a  barrel,  from  the  bot- 
tom of  which  depended  a  hose  about  six  inches 
in  diameter,  made  of  common  cowhide  and  end- 
ing in  a  tin  tube  about  four  feet  long,  which  ta- 
pered to  a  point  about  an  inch  in  diameter.  With 
the  head  of  water  thus  obtained,  a  stream  turned 
dirt,  washed  off  the  lighter  earth  and  gravel, 
while  the  coarser  gravel  was  washed  more  care- 
fully and  thrown  out  with  a  sluice  fork,  the  name 
of  the  stick  used  for  that  purpose.  This  flume 
was  called  a  sluice.  Later  came  the  "ground 
sluice,"  which  consisted  ni  making  the  bed  rock 
on  which  the  pay  dirt  rested  perform  tne  duty  of 
sluices,  while  a  stream  of  water,  used  for  wash- 
ing away  the  dirt,  was  constantly  trained  against 
the  bank.  This  water  had  about  the  same  effect 
as  water  in  any  stream  rubbing  constantly  and 
ceaselessly  against  its  own  banks  where  they  of- 
fer resistance  to  the  current. 

It  can  be  easily  seen  how  modern  hydraulic 
mining  grew  out  of  these  comparatively  simple 
contrivances.    For  the  cowhide  hose,  canvas  and 


■il 


I 


ii 

If 


I- ; 


102 


KLONDIKE. 


then  iron  were  substituted,  and  improvements 
have  been  constantly  going  on,  until  now  it  is 
estimated  that  $100,000,000  is  invested  in  ditches, 
dams  and  tunnels  in  California  alone.  Water 
has  been  carried  from  almost  incredible  distances 
around  apparently  insurmountable  obstacles  so 
rs  to  be  brought  into  play  for  the  washing  of 
go\(\  out  of  the  gravel  of  arid  diggings.  In  some 
instances  from  250  to  300  miles  of  ditches  and 
canals  have  been  built  at  a  cost  of  millions  of 
dollars  before  water  could  be  brought  to  play 
upon  the  gold-bearing  dirt.  Indeed  it  is  an  ax- 
iom among  miners  that  the  richness  of  the  gravel 
is  not  so  important  as  the  abundance  of  water, 
for  with  water  in  sufficient  quantities  gravel  con- 
taining even  insignificant  percentages  of  gold 
can  be  made  to  pay,  and  througi:  the  application 
of  American  inventiveness  it  has  been  found  pos- 
sible to  wash  out  the  deep  gravel  deposits  on  the 
high  banks  of  the  canons  of  streams  where  gold 
has  been  found.  The  beginning  of  this  complete 
method  of  hydraulic  mining  is  usually  given  as 
1856.  It  was  not  until  more  than  ten  years  alter 
this  that  hydraulic  mining  was  revolutionized  by 
the  introduction  of  the  "monitor"  in  place  of  the 
discharge  pipe  of  earlier  days.    After  iron  began 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


103 


to  be  employed  for  the  flumes  the  pipes  were 
gradually  enlarged  and  strengthened,  until  th__, 
measure  now  from  fifteen  to  thirty  inches  in  di- 
ameter, terminating  in  monitors,  which  discharge 
the  streams  of  water  against  the  rocks  with  such 
tremendous  force  as  to  toss  about  like  pebbles 
rocks  which  are  tons  in  weight.  The  hydraulic 
monitor  in  action  resembles  very  much  a  piece  of 
military  or  naval  ordnance.  It  is  united  to  the 
supply  pipe  at  the  breech  with  a  water-tight 
socket  joint,  which  enables  the  miner  to  direct 
the  nozzle  toward  any  point.  In  spite  of  the  tre- 
mendous force  which  the  hydraulic  monitor  rep- 
resents it  can  be  managed  almost  by  a  child 
through  a  simple  and  effective  arrangement  call- 
ed the  "deflector."  The  deflector  consists  of  a 
sleeve  of  sheet  iron  working  on  an  elbow  joint 
over  the  nozzle.  To  this  sleeve  is  riveted  an  iron 
handle  four  or  five  feet  long,  by  means  of  which 
the  deflector  can  be  moved  so  that  the  lip  shall 
impinge  on  a  column  of  water  emerging  from 
the  nozzle  of  the  monitor.  An  almost  iir percep- 
tible angle  is  thus  formed  in  a  column  c't  >vater 
which  slowly  moves  the  monitor  in  the  opposite 
direction,  relieves  the  friction  and  straighten? 
the  line  of  discharge.    With  all  this  tremendous 


! 

i 


104 


KLONDIKE. 


force  at  work  it  is  remarkable  that  modern  hy- 
.draulic  mining  should  have  been  carried  to  such 
a  point  of  perfection  that  the  amount  of  gold  lost 
in  washing  is  hardly  worth  taking  account  of, 
although  in  the  old  methods  of  placer  mining  it 
was  estimated  that  from  one-third  to  one-half  of 
the  fine  gold  was  carried  away  in  the  debris.  To 
illustrate  the  tremendous  force  of  the  water 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  gold  deposits  through 
the  hydraulic  engines  a  correspondence,  which 
was  begun  some  years  ago  by  Mr.  Justice  Field, 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  is  of  great  interest.  Jus- 
tice Field's  letter  follows: 

Washington,  D.  C,  January  23,  1891. 
Hon.  James  G.  Fair: 

Dear  Sir: — Last  evening  I  dined  at  General 
Schofield's  and  met  the  President  (Harrison). 
There  were  a  number  of  distinguished  people 
present  besides  the  President,  among  whom  were 
the  Chief  Justice,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  (Mr.  Reed),  Senators  Sherman, 
Stanford  and  McMillan,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
Windom  and  Mr.  McKinley  and  Mr.  Wheeler  of 
the  House.  During  the  evening  the  conversa- 
tion turned  upon  California  and  her  wonderful 
products  and  mining  operations.    I  took  occasion 


PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


105 


to  Speak  of  hydraulic  mining  and  the  wonderful 
manner  in  which  the  hills  were  torn  down  by  hy- 
draulic machinery.  I  stated  that  I  had  under- 
stood you  to  say  that  such  was  the  force  of  the 
water  thrown  through  a  hose  when  it  came  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  feet  in  height  that 
boulders  weighing  half  a  ton  could  be  moved  by 
streams  playing  upon  them  and  that  the  force 
was  sometimes  so  great  that  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  cut  the  stream.  At  this  statement  much 
surprise  was  manifested,  and  I  thought  that  a 
smile  of  incredulity  passed  over  the  features  of 
the  guests.  Seeing  this,  I  said  that  I  would  prove 
the  facts  stated  in  a  communication  to  them. 

Now  I  write  to  you  for  the  information  de- 
sired. Please  send  me  some  carefully  prepared 
statistics  as  to  hydraulic  mining,  particularly  as 
to  the  power  exerted  of  a  column  of  water  thrown 
by  such  machinery,  and  as  to  how  large  boulders 
can  be  moved  by  the  force  of  the  stream  and  on 
the  point  whether  it  is  true  that  the  force  of  the 
stream  is  sometimes  so  gjeat  that  it  cannot  be 
cut.  I  would  be  much  obliged  if  you  could  give 
me  full  particulars  in  regard  to  these  matters  in 
a  communication  that  I  can  use  if  necessary.  T 
propose  to  send  a  letter  to  each  one  of  the  guests, 


I 


106 


KLONDIKE. 


Stating  the  facts,  and  thus  remove  the  incredulity 
which  they  evinced  when  the  statement  was  made 
by  me.  I  want  to  show  that  it  was  only  the  re- 
sult of  want  of  experience  in  hydraulic  mining, 
their  situation  being  somewhat  like  that  of  the 
King  of  Siam,  who  was  offended  when  an  Eng- 
lish visitor  told  him  that  in  his  country  water  be- 
came so  hard  that  he  could  walk  on  it. 

Please  let  me  hear  from  it   at    your   earliest 
convenience  and  believe  me  to  be 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

STEPHEN  J.  FIELD. 
In  his  reply  to  this  petition  ex-5enator  Fair  in- 
closed the  following  statements.    The  first  is  from 
Louis  Glass: 

"At  the  Spring  Valley  Hydraulic  Gold  Mine  in 
Cherokee,  Butte  county,  California,  our  largest 
stream  was  through  an  8-inch  diameter  nozzle 
under  311  vertical  feet  vertical  pressure,  delivered 
by  about  a  half  a  mile  of  two  and  a  half  feet  diam- 
eter iron  pipe;  and  I  have  seen  one  of  these 
sfeams  at,  say,  twenty  feet  from  nozzle,  move  a 
boulder  weighing  about  two  tons,  in  a  sluggish 
way,  and  throw  a  rock  of  five  hundred  pounds  as 
a  man  would  a  twenty-pound  weight.  No  man 
that  ever  lived  could  strike  a  bar  through  one  of 


I'LACER  MINING  AND  IIVDRAL  l.ICS. 


107 


these  streams  within  twenty  feet  of  discharge, 
and  a  human  being  being  struck  by  such  a  stream 
would  be  instantly  killed,  pounded  into  a  shape- 
less mass. 

"To  verify  this  here  is  an  estimate  of  power  de- 
veloped under  similar  circumstances: 

"Say  8-inch  diameter  nozzle  300  feet  head,  de- 
livered through  iron  pipe  large  enough  to  elimi- 
nate friction ;  300  feet  head  by  433  pounds  by  50 
(square  of  8-inch  diameter)  equals  182,000 
pounds  aggregate  pressure,  or  91  tons;  but  by 
want  of  cohesion  in  the  column  of  water  after 
leaving  the  nozzle  this  great  force  is  rapidly  dis- 
sipated and  at  about  240  feet  the  momentum  is 
lost." 

The  second  statement  is  by  Aug.  J.    Bowie: 

"The  water  which  in  large  hydraulic  mines  is 
used  under  a  pressure  varying  from  200  to  500 
feet,  is  discharged  through  machines  styled 
'giants'  or  'monitors,'  with  nozzles  from  4  to  9 
inches  in  diameter.  Leading  up  to  these  nozzles 
the  supply  pipe  tapers  and  is  lifted  to  keep  the 
stream  from  twisting;  hence  the  water  as  it  issues 
is  practically  solid. 

"A  6-inch  nozzle  under  a  200  feet  pressure  will 
discharge  14  cubic  feet  of  water  a  second,  equal 


A   m 


i?»  ?  i; 


108 


KLONDIKE. 


to  326  horse-power.  The  same  size  nozzle  under 
450  feet  pressure  will  deliver  21  cubic  feet  of  wa- 
ter per  second,  which  would  be  equal  to  a  blow  of 
588,735  foot  pounds  per  second,  equivalent  to 
1070  horse-power.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
cut  such  a  stream  with  an  ax  or  to  make  any 
impression  on  it  with  any  other  implement. 

"The  velocity  of  the  water  as  it  issues  from  the 
nozzles  would  in  the  cases  mentioned  vary  from 
70  to  105  feet  per  second.  The  greater  the  dis- 
tance from  the  discharge  nozzle  the  less  effective 
would  be  the  blow;  but  were  a  man  to  be  struck 
by  the  stream  as  it  comes  from  the  pipe  his  body 
would  have  to  resist  a  continuous  force  of  from 
261,000  to  953,000  foot  pounds  per  second,  with 
the  result  that  it  would  be  cut  into  fragments. 
There  never  has  been  such  an  accident,  but  at 
distances  of  from  150  to  200  feet  men  have  been 
killed  by  very  much  smaller  streams.". 

It  only  remains  to  explain  that  this  tremendous 
stream  tearing  away  the  banks  of  gravel  forces 
tons  of  gold  bearing  dirt  through  the  water-tight 
open  drains  known  as  sluice  boxes,  which  are 
made  of  heavy  boards  covered  on  the  bottom  with 
"riffles"  or  blocks  of  stone  or  wood,  with  space 
between  them  for  the  gold  to  settle  in. 


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PLACER  MINING  AND  HYDRAULICS. 


109 


As  the  water  rushes  through,  tlic  heavy  go'.d 
settles  in  these  h*tle  spaces  over  whicli  quick- 
silver has  been  sprinkled,  and  uniting  with  the 
quicksilver  forms  an  amalgam.  At  length  the 
water  is  turned  off  with  the  exception  of  a  gentle 
stream,  the  riffle  blocks  are  taken  up,  the  amal- 
gam is  scooped  out  in  buckets,  and  the  residue  is 
washed  down  to  the  next  riffle  and  so  on  through 
the  line  of  sluice  boxes.  V  hen  the  water  is  turn- 
ed off  the  workmen  take  silver  spoons  to  the  nail 
holes  or  cracks  and  gather  up  any  goUl  or  amal- 
gam that  may  have  been  caught  therein.  Then 
come  the  various  processes  of  breaking  up  the 
amalgam,  rubbing  it  and  washing  it,  straining  it 
through  canvas  or  chamois  skin,  cleaning  it  by  a 
hot  bath  in  water  and  sulphuric  acid  and  packing 
it  tig'htly  in  the  retort,  by  means  of  which  tlie 
quicksilver  is  all  driven  off  and  the  pure  gold 
made  ready  for  the  assay  office. 

It  may  be  imagined  that  the  construction  of 
reservoirs  to  supply  water  for  these  great  hy- 
draulic monitors  is  something  of  an  enterprise. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  involves  vast  labor  and 
expense.  Suitable  valleys  are  selected  near  the 
summit  of  a  high  range  of  mountains,  huge  dams 
of  solid    masonry  are  built  across  the  gorges  at 


no 


KLONDIKE. 


in 


1 


the  mouths  of  the  valleys,  and  the  mehing  snows 
on  tlie  surrounding  watersheds  supply  such  a 
reservoir  with  water,  thus  storing  it  until  the  nat- 
ural streams  have  dried  up  or  run  so  low  that 
they  can  no  longer  be  of  any  service.  The  Sierras 
with  their  numerous  valleys  almost  within  the 
line  of  perpetual  snow  are  especially  adapted  to 
this  kind  of  engineering. 

The  obstacles  to  be  surmounted  before  process- 
es like  this  can  be  made  to  apply  in  a  country  like 
the  Yukon  region  where  the  thermometer  goes 
to  75  degrees  below  zero  in  the  winter  and  where 
the  ice  is  broken  up  for  only  two  months  in  the 
year  may  be  imagined.  But  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
where  gold  is  to  be  found  American  genius  will 
<levise  sonic  means  of  bringing  it  out  within  the 
reach  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ALASKA. 

It  is  no  unexpected  reve'iation  that  the  soil  of 
Alaska  is  found  to  be  impregnated  with  gold. 
Seward  suspected  something  of  the  kind  when  he 
negotiated  the  purchas:e  of  the  territory  from  the 


.1 


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ALASKA.  as 

Russian  Government  away  liack  in  1867.  lit-  was 

la-iighed  at  then  for  what  was  termed  Seward's 

folly,  and   it  became  ([iiite  the  fashion   for  the 

newspapers  of  tlie  day  to  twit  the  Secretary  of 

State  about   spendinj^  milhons  of  dollars  on  a 

stretch  of  ice  and  rocks.     iUit  Seward  never  let 

himself  be  troubled  by  the  clamor,  and  he  is  .>ii  ' 

record  in  more  than  one  utterance  as  declarinijf 

that  the  Alaskan  i)urcliase  would  eventually  be 

found  to  be  the  richest  portion  of  the  territory 

of  the  United  States.    His  phop'hecy  seems  about 

to  be  fulfilled.     Indeed,  it  has  been  in  the  process 

of  fulfillment  for  many  years,    and    the    money 

which  the  llnited  States  invested  in  the  purchase 

has  already  been  repaid  several  times  over.     The  ' 

value  of  the  furs  alone  in  the  Alaskan  territories  ( 

exceeds  by  millions  of  dollars  the  price  paid  by 

Seward  for  everytiiing".     It  has  been  known,  too, 

for  many  years  that  the  soil  was  rich  in  minerals 

of  many  kinds.    The  roal  fields  are  as  extensive 

as  any  in  the  world.     Copper  is  known  to  lie 

there  in  vast  (juantities,  and  gold  has  for  years 

been   waiting  only   for  the   undaunted   band   of 

pioneers  who  were  willing  to  brave  the  hardships 

of  cold,  .starvation  and  travel  in  their  search  for 

the  philosopher's   stone.     Gold   has  been   taken 


m 


ii 


!!; 


KLONIilKK. 


from  Alaska  before  this.  The  Treadwcll  Mines, 
on  Douglas  Island,  have  been  worked  since 
1885.  and  it  is  now  regarded  as  the  most  perfect- 
ly equipped  quartz  mining  establishment  in  the 
world,  in  1895  the  Director  of  the  Mint  report- 
ed that  gold  to  the  amount  of  $1,833,733  had 
been  taken  from  the  Alaskan  mine  an  '-posited 
at  the  United  States  mints.  lUit  quarts.  :  lining  is 
not  placer  mining.  It  is  not  the  sort  of  thing 
that  attracts  the  argonauts,  for  it  requires  a  great 
amount  of  capital  and  is  devoid  of  tlie  element  of 
romance  which  renders  the  gold  beds  of  the  Klon- 
dike as  fascinating  to  the  fortune-seeker  as  the 
Californian  gold  beds  were  to  the  fortune-seek- 
er of  1849.  A  (juartz  mine  is  a  huge  manufactur- 
ing establishment  with  all  that  is  contained  «n 
that  term,  and  the  profits  go  to  the  head  of  the 
concern.  Placer  mining  is  the  field  for  individual 
effort,  where  every  man  has  at  least  a  chance  of 
making  a  fabulous  fortune  on  his  own  account. 
In  placer  mining  one  may  pick  out  the  gold  with 
his  fingers.  There  is  something  about  that  pro-' 
cess  wliich  appeals  to  the  imagination.  And  so  it 
happens  that  while  millions  of  dollars  have  al- 
ready been  taken  out  of  the  Alaskan  territory,  it 
remained  for  the  splendid  discoveries  at  Klondike 


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to  open  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  the  surpassing 
richness  of  the  Alaskan  field. 

Very  few  people  in  the  United  States,  even 
among  the  more  intelligent  and  educated  class- 
es, fully  appreciate  the  immensity  of  the  territory 
which  was  atlded  to  the  public  domain  1)\  the 
purchase  of  Alaska.  The  total  area  of  the  United 
States  proper,  including  the  fully  organized  ter- 
ritories, is  2,97o,(X)o  square  miles.  Alaska  pr^^pcr 
in  the  mainland  contains  an  area  of  580,107 
square  miles;  the  islands  of  Alexander  ArcJiipel- 
ago,  off  the  southeastern  coast,  contain  31,205 
square  miles,  and  the  Aleutian  Islands,  6391 
sipiare  miles.  In  otlier  words  Alaska,  witli  its 
adjacent  islands,  embraces  more  square  miles  of 
territor)'  than  twenty-one  States  of  the  Union 
east  of  the  ri'^'svssippi;  that  is,  all  the  New  Eng- 
land States,  i  ^w  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jer- 
sey, Delaware,  Maryland,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Kentucky,  X'irginia.  West 
Virginia,  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina—  States 
which  have  a  representation  in  Washington  of 
forty-two  Senators  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
nienibors  of  the  House.  There  are  eleven 
thcHisand  islands  along  the  coast  of  zVlaska,  and 
with  the  numerous  c^e^ks  and  inlets,  these  length- 


114 


KL(JNMJ1KE. 


en  the  coast  line  to  twenty-six  thousand  miles,  an 
extent  greater  by  ovjr  eleven  thousand  niiies 
than  the  entiire  line  of  the  Atlantic,  Taoitic  and 
(lulf  coasts  of  the  United  Staler,  and  two  thou- 
sand miles  greater  than  tiic  circumference  o'f  the 
earth,  (ape  Mur/on,the  extreme  southens  point, 
lies  in  ncjrth  latitude  54.40,  and  I'oint  Harrow, 
the  northenmiosl  i)oi!U,  lies  in  latitude  71.^3.  A 
line  ruiming  parallel  .vith  the  trend  of  the  shore 
between  these  two  extremities  i>  two  thousand 
eight  hundired  miles  long.  The  Aleutian  Ulands 
•re  twelve  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  the  isl- 
and of  Attou,  the  last  of  the  Aleutian  group,  is 
two  thousand  mile^  nnles  west  of  Sitka.  The 
longitude  of  Attou  is  as  many  degrees  west  of 
San  Francisco  as  I'"astport,  Maine,  is  degrees 
east.  It  is  through  the  possession  of  Alaska 
that  the  American  citizen  is  able  to  boast 
that  the  sun  never  goes  down  upoji  the  domin- 
ions of  the  I'nited  St:i:es.  The  ( lovenior  of  Al- 
aska, sitting  in  his  office  in  Sitka,  is  very-  little 
faitlicr,  measuring  in  a  straight  line,  from  East- 
port,  Maine,  than  he  is  from  the  extreme  west- 
ern limit  of  his  owii  jurisdiction,  which  ex- 
tends beyond  the  most  easterly  point  of  Asia,  a 
distance  of  nearly  one  I'jousand  miles,  to  the  one 


ALASKA. 


ii; 


Iniiuirc'd  and  ninety-third  doj^ree  of  west  long'i- 
tude.  enil)racinjj  an  area  very  nearly  ecj-iial  to  one- 
fifth  of  all  the  States  and  orjj^anized  Territories  of 
the  Union  With  i:s  navig^ahle  rivers,  intor- 
minabie  forests,  nnd  lofty  mountain  ranges,  it 
would  be  stranj^e,  indeed,  were  it  not  i>osses«.ed 
of  natural  resources,  the  development  of  which 
is  the  only  condition  precedent  to  the  growth  of 
a  rich  and  pr<isperous  Siato.  Tl'at  these  re- 
sources are  even  now  comparatively  unknown  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  in  view  of  the  long  ne- 
f^^lcct  of  tlie  territory  In  the  national  p^overnment. 
The  extent  to  which  this  neglect  has  been  carried 
is  slunvn  by  the  fact  that  only  since  the  recent 
startling  reports  of  the  development  oi  the  gold 
region  in  the  interior  has  the  United  States  seen 
fit  to  make  any  provision  for  the  administration 
of  the  law  in  thai:  part  of  the  territory.  It  is  on!y 
a  little  time  since  the  oiifice  of  United  vr'tr.tes 
Conmiissioner  for  Western  Alaska  was  created 
by  the  Tresident.  and  Charles  H.  Isham  was  ap- 
pointed lo  the  place.  Mr.  Isham  will  be  stationed 
at  Circle  City,  but  whether  he  will  find  any  city 
there  upon  h4s  arrival  is  something  of  a  question. 
He  will  be  authorized  to  appoint  deputy  mar- 
shals to  air  "-im  in  enforcing  the  laws     of     the 


110 


KLONDIKK. 


United  States.  Governor  Ryan,  the  first  Assist- 
ant Secretary  of  the  Interior,  admits  that  Che  force 
employed  in  the  civil  government  in  Alaska  is  en- 
tirely inadequate  if  there  is  any  appreciable  in- 
crease at  points  remote  from  the  towns  where 
government  officials  are  now  located. 

The  gold  fields  are  away  up  in  the  Yukon,  at 
the  edge  of  the  Arctic  circle,  hund»-s,ils  of  miles 
distant  from  Sitka  and  other  coast  towns,  where 
are  located  the  United  States  Marshals,  Umted 
States  Commissioners,  Deputy  Marshals  and 
Deputy  Commissioners.  The  active  force  in  chc 
territory  that  'has  to  carry  on  a  civil  government 
is  small.  The  police  force,  as  it  may  be  termed, 
consists  of  a  United  Statts  Marshal  and  eiglit 
Deputy  Marshals,  eight  United  States  Commis- 
sioners and  eight  Deputy  Conunissioners.  Of 
course,  in  case  of  trouble,  the  Marshal  could  ex- 
ercise the  power  of  a  high  sheriff  and  summon 
the  posse  coniitatus.  The  Ihiited  States  laws  arc 
rigidly  enforced  in  southeastern  Alaska  along 
the  coast  and  the  citizens  of  the  territory  are  ful- 
ly protected  in  the  settlement,  but  the  miners  who 
push  several  hundred  miles  beyond  civilization 
will  have  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves  until  other 
arrangements  are  made  for  increasing  the  civil 


IP- 


ALASKA. 


117 


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force  of  the  territory.  The  ji^-eneral  land  office  has 
recommeiuled  the  estabh.shment  of  two  land  dis- 
tricts in  western  Alaska  and  one  of  the  officers 
will  be  located  at  Circle  City.  There  has  been  the 
greatest  confusion  amonj:^  the  prosi)ectt)rs  owiii^ 
to  the  absence  of  facilities  for  proving;  up  claims, 
and  it  is  feared  that  there  will  be  a  jjreat  number 
of  contentions  over  mineral  land  locations  in  vari- 
ous sections  where  the  f?old  discoveries  have  Ix-en 
made.  Some  of  the  prospectors  who  have  arrived 
in  San  Francisco  and  Seattle  have  endeavored  to 
secure  government  recognition  for  their  claims, 
only  to  find  that  the  processes  they  had  gone 
through  with  were  valueless  and  tliat  th'v  would 
be  compelled  to  make  the  whole  wearisome  jour- 
ney over  again  with  witnesses  who  could  testify 
to  their  occupation  of  the  land. 

The  population  of  Alaska  is  largely  a  matter 
of  estimate.  According  to  the  latest  reports  it 
amounted  to  about  35,000.  Of  these  about  io,(Xio 
might  be  described  as  civilized  and  this  number 
includes  not  only  the  whites  but  the  Creoles  an<l 
the  Aleutians.  Most  of  the  whites  reside  in  the 
southeastern  coast  country,  where  Ihe  seat  (n" 
government  has  been.  The  i)eople  called  Creoles 
are  descendants   three  or   four   generations   re- 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14S80 

(716)  872-4503 


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118 


KLONDIKE. 


"  V     ■'  ? 


mote,  of  a  mixed  parentage  (Russian  fathers  and 
native  mothers),  but  it  will  puzzle  even  the  most 
learned  ethnologist  to  find  anything  in  their  feat- 
ures or  complexions  by  which  to  distinguish  ihem 
from  the  race  to  which  their  fathers  belonged. 
They  are,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  white  peo- 
ple, fully  as  intelligent  and  well  informed  as 
would  almost  any  other  class  of  people  have  been, 
if  subjected  to  the  same  wrongs  and  disadvan- 
tages. They,  as  well  as  the  Aleuts,  are  civilized 
people,  iii  the  sense  that  the  first  were  never  in  a 
condition  of  barbarism,  while  t'le  last,  if  indeed 
not  fully  enlightened,  have  most  certainly  been  re- 
claimed from  their  original  savage  state.  Under 
the  rule  of  the  R^issian-American  Company  the 
Creoles  were  given  the  same  opportunities  for 
acquiring  an  education  as  were  afforded  to  pure 
blood  Russian  children,  up  to  a  certain  age,  when 
they  were  compelled  to  enter  the  employ  of  the 
company  for  a  long  term  of  years.  The  bright- 
est among  the  Creoles  and  Aleutian  boys  were 
carefully  trained  in  navigation,  ship  building  and 
the  mechanical  arts,  while  the  girls  were  taught 
housekeeping,  and  thus  fitted  to  become  wives  of 
the  company's  employes,  and  there  are  said  to  be 
now  in  the  Russian  armv  and  navv  officers  of 


ALASKA. 


m 


very  considerable  rank,  and  a  good  many  who 
hold  high  positions  in  the  civil  service  of  the 
Empire,  who  are  the  progeny  of  these  mixed  mar- 
riages. The  Aleuts  are  a  keen,  bright  and  natwr- 
ally  intelligent  people,  industrious  and  provident, 
the  larger  portion  being  educated  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent  in  the  Russian  language,  and  that  they 
are  well  advanced  in  civilization  is  evidenced  by 
the  fact  that  they  live  in  comfortable  houses,  are 
given  to  finery  in  their  dress,  and  are,  w  ith  scarce- 
ly an  exception,  devout  members  of  one  of  the 
Christian  churches. 

The  coast  Alaskans  are  a  very  superior  race 
intellectually,  as  compared  with  the  people  gen- 
erally known  as  North  American  Indians,  and 
are  as  a  rule  industrious  and  provident  and  whol- 
ly self-sustaining.  That  they  yield  readily  to  civ- 
ilizing influences  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
wherever  the  Christian  missionaries  have  gain- 
ed a  foothold,  they  will  be  found  living  in  neat 
comfortable  homes  of  their  own  construction,  and 
many  of  them  earnestly  intent  upon  bettering 
their  condition,  intellectually  and  morally.  They 
are  shrewd  and  natural-born  traders,  some  are 
passably  good  carpenters,  and  others  still  are 
skillful  workers  in  woods  and  metals.    As  fast  as 


1%  I; 


i  n 


120 


KLONDIKE. 


they  can  obtain  employment  from  the  white  men 
at  reasonable  wages  (and  the  most  ignorant 
among  them  know  the  value  of  their  labor)  they 
abandon  the  chase  and  the  fishing  grounds,  and 
serve  their  employers  faithfully  so  long  as  they 
are  well  treated.  At  least  a  hundred  are  employed 
at  the  great  mine  and  mill  on  Douglas  Island,  and 
as  laborers  and  miners  are  far  superior  to  llie 
Chinese. 

Of  course,  with  the  influx  of  miners  to  the  new 
placer  diggings  the  population  of  whites  will  be 
greatly  increased,  and  it  is  certainly  not  a  rash 
estimate  that  the  total  population  of  the  territory 
will  be  more  than  doubled  in  the  next  twelve 
months.  So  far  as  is  known  there  are  about 
five  thousand  white  men  now  scattered  over  the 
gold  fields,  and  most  of  these  have  been  concen- 
trated about  the  Klondike  region.  Five  thou- 
sand more  are  on  the  way,  and  with  the  opening 
up  of  spring  they  will  begin  to  pour  in  upon  the 
unexplored  country  by  the  thousands.  With 
the  rapid  increase  of  population  and  the  direction 
of  attention  to  the  new  Eldorado  there  it  will 
only  be  a  short  time  before  transportation  facil- 
ities are  afforded  between  Juneau  and  the  gold 
fields  and  the  way  paved  for  establishing  the  be- 
ginnings of  a  great  Commonwealth. 


»*I"W' 


ALASKA. 


1-1 


It  appears  now  that  Juneau,  situate*!  as  it  is  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  known  and  operated  quart 
mining  district  will  be  the  most  important  city  of 

Alaska.  Indeed,  it  is  already  the  metropolis  of 
the  Territory,  although  Sitka  still  remains  the 
capital,  and,  owing  to  its  age  and  its  situation, 
will  continue  to  be  an  important  point.  The 
population  of  Sitka,  in  the  latest  reports,  was 
about  1200.  Juneau  is  destined  to  be  the  outfit- 
ting point  for  all  miners  on  their  way  to  the  Yu- 
kon gold  fields.  It  has  a  population  of  nearly 
fifteen  hundred,  which  is  bound  rapidly  to  in- 
crease. It  is  more  nearly  than  other  Alaskan 
city  on  a  par  with  the  cities  farther  sout'.i.  It  is 
the  headquarters  of  several  steamboat  Imes,  has 
a  city  hall  and  court  house,  substantial  wharves, 
water  works,  electric  lights,  hotels  and  a  large 
number  of  fine  buildings.  It  is  a  picturesque 
city,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  which 
are  snow-capped  throughout  the  year  and  down 
which  avalanches  are  constantly  tearing.  One 
or  more  avalanche  rushes  down  the  mountain 
side  every  day,  and  these  incidents  lend  to  life 
there  an  interest  peculiarly  its  own. 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  glaciers  ati- 


i 


122 


KLONDIKE. 


\ 


proach  nearer  to  the  ocean  here  in  Alaska  than 
in  any  other  place  in  the  world.  Indeed  it  is  the 
only  place  so  far  as  known  where  glaciers  come 
near  to  the  ocean  at  all,  but  here  the  approach 
is  so  close  and  the  motion  oceanward  is  so  steady 
that  the  waters  around  Juneau  are  fdled  with 
floating  icebergs,  somewhat  to  the  peril  of  sea- 
faring  men. 

Juneau  was  founded  in  the  winter  of  1880  and 
six  months  after  the  discovery  of  gold  (August 
15,  1880)  by  Joseph  Juneau  and  Richard  Harris. 
It  went  under  the  name  of  Harrisburg  at  first  and 
afterwards  was  called  Rockwell,  but  the  miners 
at  a  meeting  about  a  year  after  its  foundation  de- 
cided to  rechristen  it  in  honor  of  the  discoverer 
of  gold.  Within  a  year  it  had  become  a  flourisli- 
ing  mining  town,  and  now  it  is  the  commercial 
centre  of  Alaska.  It  supports  three  weekly  news- 
papers. 

The  exjiloration  of  the  northern  coast  was 
chiefly  the  work  of  the  British  navigators.  Cook, 
Beechy  and  Franklin,  and  of  the  officers  of  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company.  The  principal  river  of 
Alaska  is  the  Yukon,  which  rises  in  British 
America,  and,  receiving  the  Porcupine  River  at 
Fort  Yukon,  flows  westward  across  the  territory 


ALASKA. 


123 


and  falls  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  south  of 
Norton  Sound.  At  a  distance  of  600  miles  from 
the  sea  this  magnificent  river  has  a  width  of  more 
than  a  mile.  Its  tributaries  would  in  Europe  be 
reckoned  large  rivers,  and  its  volume  is  so  great 
than  ten  miles  out  from  its  principal  mouth  the 
water  is  fresh.  Among  the  other  rivers  of  Alas- 
ka are  the  Copper  River,  the  Suschitna,  the  Xus- 
chagak  and  the  Kuskokwim,  falling  into  the  Pa- 
cific, and  the  Colville,  flowing  northward  into  the 
Arctic  Ocean.  A  great  mountain  range  extends 
from  British  Columbia,  in  a  northwest  direction, 
along  the  coast  of  Alaska,  the  summit  being  cov- 
Lred  with  snow  and  glaciers.  Mount  St.  Elias,  an 
active  volcano,  in  60.18  north  latitude  and  140.30 
west  longitude,  rises  to  the  height  of  18,000  feet 
above  the  sea.  The  mountain  chain  runs  along 
the  peninsula,  which  has  given  its  name  10  the 
country,  and  at  the  western  extremity  there  are 
several  volcanic  cones  of  great  elevation,  while 
in  the  Island  of  Uminak,  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  only  a  narrow  strait,  there  are  enor- 
mous volcanoes,  one  rising  to  more  than  8000 
feet  in  height.  In  the  interior  and  to  the  north 
the  country  is  also  mountainous,  with  great  in- 
tervening plains. 


CI 


i     } 


124 


KLONDIKE. 


I  jj 


The  northwest  coast  of  this  part  of  America 
was  discovered  and  explored  by  a  Russian  expe- 
dition under  Behring  in  1741,  and  at  subsequent 
periods  settlements  were  made  by  the  Russians 
at  various  places,  chiefly  by  the  prosecution  of 
the  fur  trade.  In  1799  the  territory  was  granted 
to  a  Russo-American  fur  company  by  the  Em- 
peror Paul  VIII,  and  in  1839  the  charter  of  the 
company  was  renewed.  New  Archangel,  in  the 
Island  of  Sitka,  was  the  principal  settlement,  but 
the  company  had  about  forty  "Stations.  They  ex- 
ported annually  25,000  skins  of  the  seal,  sea- 
otter,  beaver,  etc.,  besides  about  20,000  sea-tiorse 
teeth.  The  privilege  of  the  company  expired  in 
1863,  and  in  1867  the  whole  Russian  possessions 
in  America  were  ceded  to  the  United  States  for  a 
money  payment  of  $7,200,000.  The  treaty  was 
signed  March  30  and  ratified  on  June  20,  1867, 
and  on  October  9  following  the  possession  of  the 
country  was  formerly  made  over  to  a  military 
force  of  the  United  States  at  New  Archangel 
(now  Sitka).  Portions  of  Alaska  were  explored 
in  1859  by  the  employes  of  the  Russo-American 
Telegraph  Company  in  surveying  a  route  for  a 
line  of  telegraph  which  was  destined  to  cross  from 
America  to  Asia  near  Behring  Strait — a  project 


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ALASKA. 


12ii 


which  was  abandoned,  after  an  expenditure  of 
$3,000,000,  on  communication  witli  Europe  being 
secured  by  the  Atlantic  cable. 

The  government  of  Alaska  lies  in  a  Governor, 
who  is  appointed  by  the  President.  It  has  not 
yet  a  full  territorial  form  of  government. 

The  climate  of  the  Alaskan  coast  regions  is 
much  milder,  even  in  the  higher  latitudes,  than 
it  is  in  the  interior,  or  in  corresponding  latitudes 
on  the  Atlantic  coast.  This  is  easily  explained 
and  understood  when  the  natural  forces  produc- 
tive of  this  milder  temperature  are  contemplated. 

The  most  important  among  tliem  is  a  thermal 
current  resembling  tht  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Atlan- 
tic. This  current,  known  as  the  Japanese  or 
Kuro  Siwo,  has  its  origin  under  the  equator  near 
the  Molucca  and  Philippine  Islands,  passing 
northward  along  the  coast  of  Japan,  and  crosses 
the  Pacific  to  the  southward  of  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands, after  throwing  a  branch  through  Bering 
Sea,  in  the  direction  of  Bering  Strait.  The  main 
current  strikes  the  coast  of  British  Columbia, 
where  it  divides  again,  one  branch  turning  north- 
ward toward  Sitka,  and  thence  westward  to  the 
Kadiak  and  Shumagim  Islands. 


126 


KLONDIKE. 


The  comparatively  warm  waters  of  these  t.nr- 
rents  affect  the  temperatures  of  the  superjacent 
atmosphere,  which,  absorbing  the  latent  heal, 
carries  it  to  the  coast  with  all  its  mollifying  ef- 
fect. Thus  the  oceanic  and  atmospheric  cur- 
rents combine  in  mitigating  the  coast  climate  of 
Alaska,  and  this  process  is  greatly  aided  by  the 
configuration  of  the  extreme  northwestern  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  backed  as  they  are  with  an  almost 
impenetrable  barrier  of  lofty  mountains,  which 
holds  back  from  the  interior  the  warni;  moist 
atmospheric  currents  coming  in  from  the  ocean, 
deflecting  at  the  same  time  the  ice-laden  northern 
gale  from  the  coast  to  the  interior. 

To  Hon.  A,  P.  Swineford,  who  was  Governor 
of  Alaska  in  1886,  belongs  the  distinction  of  hav- 
ing early  and  strongly  called  the  attention  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  the  splendid  possi- 
bilities of  Alaskan  development.  In  the  very  first 
report  which  he  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior in  October,  1885,  he  declared  that  the  nat- 
ural resources  of  Alaska,  as  yet  in  the  infancy  of 
their  development,  were  such  as  might  be  made, 
in  the  near  future,  a  most  important  addition  to 
the  aggregate  wealth  of  the  nation. 


ALASKA. 


m 


"I  have  seen  enough  to  convince  me,"  he  said, 
"that  no  other  Territory  of  the  Union,  ^^t  so  early 
a  period  in  its  civil  history,  presented  nearly  so 
many  or  as  great  possibilities  for  the  future. 
That  Alaska  was  not  supplied  with  local  civil 
government  a  dozcik  years  ago  is  to  be  cljplored; 
that  so-callc  '  scientists  in  the  pay  of  the  General 
Government  have  heretofore  'dannied  with  faint 
praise,'  if  they  did  not  openly  condemn  the  coun- 
try as  utterly  worthless,  save  for  its  valuable  fur 
trade — basing  their  statements  on  what  they 
were  able  to  see,  looking  at  its  rugged  coast 
from  their  favorite  standpoint  of  the  Prybilov  Is- 
lands— is  still  more  to  be  regretted,  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  tardy  and  at  last  only  partially  per- 
formed act  of  justice  on  the  one  hand  was  but 
the  result  of  either  the  ignorant  or  willful  mis- 
statements of  those  to  whom  Congress  looked 
for  information  upon  which  to  base  any  and  all 
legislation  affecting  the  rights,  privileges  and  in- 
terests of  Alaska  and  its  people. 

"Nowhere  in  my  home  travels,  from  Lake  Su- 
perior to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  Washin^^ton 
to  Sitka,  have  I  seen  a  more  luxuriant  vegetation 
than  in  Southeastern  Alaska.    I  find  the  hardier 


:•<   ' 


128 


KLONDIKE. 


vegetables  all  growing  to  maturity  and  enormous 
size." 

There  was  a  time  when- it  was  quite  the  fashion 
for  public  officials  to  suggest  the  relinquishment 
oi  the  Alaskan  possessions  altogether  on  the 
ground  that  they  would  constantly  be  a  source  of 
expense  and  no  revenue.  Gen.  McDowell,  as  late 
as  1879,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  best  thing 
the  United  States  could  do  with  Alaska  would  be 
to  sdll  it,  and  there  are  executive  documents  mak- 
ing a  similar  suggestion.  The  day  of  belittling 
has  long  passed.  Alaska  has  paid  for  itself  many 
times  over. 

Prior  to  the  development  of  her  mineral  re- 
sources Alaska's  visible  wealth  was  in  her  fisher- 
ies and  furs.  For  years  the  popular  imagination 
conceived  of  little  in  connection  with  the  Terri- 
tory except  fur  seals,  and  the  complicated  ques- 
tions arising  with  regard  to  the  protection  of  seal 
life  have  been  the  occasion  of  long-pending  dip- 
lomatic negotiations  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  of  a  costly  court  of  arbitration 
and  of  the  employment  of  experts  by  the  dozen  to 
travel  to  the  seal  iolands  and  express  their  views. 
More  has  been  written  on  the  subject  of  the  seal 
fisheries  than  on  all  other  topics  connected  with 


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ASASKA. 


199 


Alaska  twenty  times  over,  but  to  everybody's  re- 
lief the  seal,  with  its  retinue  of  experts  and  diplo- 
mats, will  hereafter  occupy  a  secondary  place  in 
the  economy  of  the  Territory.  The  Pribylof  Is- 
lands in  Bering  Sea  are  the  breeding  places  for 
the  seal  herd.  At  the  time  of  the  transfer  to  the 
United  States  the  herd  numbered  in  the  millions. 
Russia  limited  herself  to  the  capture  of  between 
50,000  and  70,000  annually.  Tlie  United  States 
took  100,000  from  the  beginning,  and  continued 
to  make  these  annual  drafts  down  to  the  year 
1890.  In  1891  the  number  of  the  herd  was  placed 
at  500,000.  In  1895  this  had  been  still  further 
reduced  to  237,500,  according  to  the  report  of 
Mr,  Murray,  the  United  States  special  agent. 
Since  then  the  number  has  been  still  further  di- 
minished. Indeed,  it  has  been  manifest  for  abou'. 
twelve  years  that  through  pelagic  or  deep  sea 
sealing  by  Canadian  marauders  the  herd  was  rap- 
idly approaching  extinction.  Since  1890  the 
United  States,  through  negotiation  diplomatical- 
ly, has  been  endeavoring  to  put  a  stop  to  pelagic 
sealing  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  legitimate  catch 
has  been  limited.  The  arbitration  commission 
which  sat  in  Paris  in  1893  made  an  award  which 
had  no  apparen'.  good  result,  and  further  efforts 


1 1 


180 


KLONDIKE. 


are  still  being  made  to  protect  the  fisheries.  The 
value  of  the  product  of  the  fur  seal  fisheries  be- 
tween 1868  and  1890  was  $48,518,929.  The  man- 
agement of  the  seal  islands  paid  into  the  U.  S. 
Treasury  in    A^eCve  years  nearly  $7,000,000. 

Of  late  years  the  salmon  fishing  has  been  by  far 
the  largest  and  most  important  industry.  Indeed, 
the  salmon  catch  of  Alaska  exceeds  that  of  all  the 
rest  of  the  world.  The  produi  l  of  the  salmon  can- 
neries between  1883  and  1890  was  valued  at  $10,- 
337,031.  The  report  for  1895  of  Joseph  Murray, 
special  agent  to  inspect  the  fisheries  in  Alaska, 
says  that  during  the  year  nearly  7,000,000  cases, 
of  48  pounds  to  the  case,  were  packed,  and  the 
total  value  of  the  salmon  canned  was  over  $2,000,- 
000. 

Gov.  Knapp  in  his  report  for  1892  says:  The 
\\4iaCing  business,  in  which  -forty-eight  vessels 
were  engaged,  resulted  in  a  catch  for  1891  of  12,- 
228  barrels  of  oil,  186.250  pounds  of  bone,  and 
1000  pounds  of  ivory.  The  total  value  was  $1,- 
218,293. 

The  cod  banks  in  Bering  Sea  and  oflf  the  south- 
western coast  near  the  Shumagin  archipelago  are 
more  extensive  even  than  those  of  Newfoundland. 
Tlie  catch  of  1890  amounted  to  a  total  of  1,138.- 


\SASKA.  131 

ooo  fish,  of  the  vahic  of  8569,000.  Since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  codfishing  business  in  1865  the 
total  number  of  fis^li  taken  is  25,723,300,  valued 
at  $12,861,650. 

H-erring  arc  as  aliundant  as  off  the  Norwegian 
coast,  althongli  the  industry  has  not  been  devel- 
oped far.  Hali])ut  may  be  taken  by  the  ton  along 
the  southeastern  coast  and  farther  west.  White- 
fish,  losh,  and  grayiings  abound  in  the  Yukon, 
and  trout  and  pike  inhabit  almost  all  the  rivers. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  United  States 
Fish  Commisssioner  for  1893  the  amount  of  cap- 
ital then  invested  in  Alaskan  fisheries  and  can- 
neries was  $2,609,650. 

In  the  census  of  1890  the  value  of  the  products 
of  Alaska  between  186S  r.nd  1890  was  given  as 
follows: 

Furs $48,518,929 

Canned  suii.iOii    9,008,497 

Salted  salmon 603,548 

Codfish 1 ,246,650 

Ivory   147.047 

Gold  and  silver 4,631,840 

Whale  oil  2,853,351 

Whalebone  8,204,067 

Aggregate $7;,2i3,92 


u 


182 


KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN 

ALASKA. 

This  handbook  would  not  approach  completion 
if  it  refrained  from  a  description  of  the  wonderful- 
ly productive  gold  mines  which  have  been  work- 
ed in  southeastern  Alaska  for  the  past  twelve 
years,  and  which  in  1895  contributed  nearly  $2,- 
000,000  to  the  gold  supply  of  the  world.  These 
quartz  mines  are  the  most  perfectly  developed  in 
the  world,  and  are  increasing  in  productiveness 
every  year.  The  gold  yield  of  Alaska  in  1894  was 
$1,288,334.  In  1895  ^^  increased  to  $2,328,419. 

For  1895  the  yield  of  the  quartz  mines  en 
Douglas  and  Unga  Islands  alone  equaled  the  en- 
tire product  of  the  territory  the  years  before, 
without  counting  the  other  mining  fields  which 
have  been  more  fully  developed. 

During"  the  year  1895,  300  stamps  were  drop- 
ping on  Douglas  Island  and  during  the  summer 
125  stamps  were  dropping  on  the  mainland. 

Other  outlying  districts  are  also  coming  into 
prominence,  mainly  on  Admiralty  Island,  upon 
which  a  new  ten-stamp  mill  is  now  ready  for  run- 


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QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.   133 


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ning,  being  operated  by  the  Alaska-Willoughby 
Gold  Mining  Company.  On  Unga  Island  some 
very  extensive  and  productive  quartz  operations 
are  being  carried  on. 

In  southeastern  Alaska,  so  far,  all  the  placer 
mining  has  been  done  in  gravel  deposits,  which 
were  made  auriferous  by  the  wash  from  quartz 
veins. 

The  distinction  of  the  first  discovery  of  gold  in 
that  extensive  and  important  mining  region  of 
which  the  town  of  Juneau  is  the  centre,  is  shared 
by  two  pioneer  prospectors,  Richard  Harris  and 
Joseph  Juneau.  In  the  summer  of  i88o  these 
men  started  in  a  canoe  from  the  quaint  old  town 
of  Sitka  to  prospect  the  mainland  coast,  and 
about  August  15  discovered  gold  in  a  strcatii 
which  they  aptly  named  Gold  Creek.  Their  stock 
of  provisions  being  nearly  exhausted,  they  did 
not  ascend  the  stream  to  its  source  and  soon  re- 
turned to  Sitka,  taking  with  them  150  pounds  (if 
gold  quartz  and  13  grains  of  "dust."  Having  se- 
cured another  outfit,  they  hurriod  back  to  Gold 
Creek,  and  soon  found  its  source  in  a  little  round 
valley  inclosed  by  steep,  glacier-capped  moim- 
tains.  This  spot  they  named  Silver  Bow  basin,  lif- 
ter a  place  of  that  name  in  Montana.       On  the 


,'•  I 


134 


KLONDIKE. 


mountain  slopes,  encircling  the  basin,  gravel  was 
found  worth  from  15  to  30  cents  a  pan,  and  quartz 
that  seemed  to  have  been  splashed  with  gold. 
October  4  Juneau  and  Harris,  with  the  aid  of 
three  natives,  located  their  choice  of  the  placer 
ground,  and  within  a  month  located  18  quartz 
claims,  organized  Harris  mining  district,  adopt- 
ed local  rules  for  the  new  district,  and  staked  off 
a  town  site  near  the  mouth  of  Gold  Creek,  whic'i 
they  named  Harrisburg.  They  then  returned  to 
Sitka  with  960  pounds  of  gold  ore,  worth  $14,000. 
This  golden  cargo  crazed  the  quiet  town,  and  a 
mmiber  of  adventurous  fellows,  procuring  boats, 
canoes,  or  steam  launches,  rushed  ofif  to  the  new- 
diggings  with  Juneau  and  Harris.  The  season 
w  as  too  far  advanced  for  prospecting  in  the  basin, 
so  log  cabins  were  built  on  the  site  staked  ofif  by 
the  founders  of  the  camp.  During  the  winter  of 
1880-1881  the  town  of  Harrisburg  flourished;  live 
general  merchandise  stores  were  established  and 
saloons  appeared  so  quickly  as  to  seem  sponta- 
neous; miners  and  frontiersmen  generally  flock- 
ed in  fromWrangell  and  British  Columbia,  and  all 
waited  impatiently  for  spring.  At  a  miners'  meet- 
ing in  February,  1881,  the  town  name  was 
changed  to    Rockwell,  in  honor    of  Lieutenant 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  136 


R(K-kvvell,  United  States  Navy,  and  the  following 
November,  at  another  meeting,  the  place  was  rc- 
christcned  Kmeau,  in  honor  of  Joseph  Juneau. 
On  the  27th  of  January  John  Pryor,  Antonc 
Marx,  Frank  Berry,  James  Rosewald  and  Wil- 
liam Mehan  discovered  placer  and  quartz  on  the 
beach  of  Douglas  Island,  four  miles  from  the 
town.  They  began  working  the  placers  early  in 
March,  washing  out  27  ounces  of  gold  in  the  first 
three  days'  work. 

The  first  shipment  of  gold  from  the  new  camp 
was  taken  from  this  claim  and  amounted  to  84 
ounces.  The  claim,  still  known  as  Ready  Bullion, 
yielded  about  $12,000  in  1881,  $3000  in  1882  and 
in  1884  ^'^s  sold  to  John  Treadwell.  These  are 
the  beginnings  of  the  famous  Treadwell  mines, 
from  which  enough  ore  has  been  taken  out  in  the 
last  ten  years  to  pay  the  purchase  of  Alaska  and 
more. 

An  expedition  of  great  value  in  the  exploration 
of  the  gold  resources  of  southern  Alaska  was  un- 
dertaken under  the  auspices  of  the  United  States 
Geological  Survey  in  1895,  under  the  direction  <.f 
Dr.  George  F.  Becker.  Dr.  pecker  was  assisted  by 
Mr.  C.  W.  Purington,  who  devoted  himself  espe- 
cially to  the  examination  of  the  gold  deposit.-. 


'  I 


•  \ 


186 


KLONDIKE. 


i  I 


and  associated  with  him  was  Dr.  W.  H.  Dall,  the 
Alaskan  authority,  who  had  immediate  charge 
of  an  examination  of  the  coal  resources. 

The  instructions  to  the  party  were  to  examine 
the  gold  and  coal  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  tbc 
shore  line  and  islands  along  the  coast  of  the  ter- 
ritory, and  not  to  attempt  to  penetrate  into  the 
interior. 

Dr.  Becker  and  Mr.  Purington  examined  the 
Treadwell  mine,  on  Douglas  Island,  and  found 
that  the  mine  was  in  slates  of  sedimentary  origin, 
probably  of  Triassic  age,  and  that  it  had  been 
penetrated  by  a  heavy  dike  of  diorite  or  tonalite 
and  by  two  other  intrusive  masses.  The  last  of 
these  is  a  rock  of  basaltic  character,  and  its  erup- 
tion seems  to  have  occurred  at  the  same  time  as 
the  mineralization.  Both  the  diorite  and  the  slate 
were  ruptured  along  a  zone  which  is  at  some 
points  several  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  the  in- 
terstitial spaces  have  been  filled  with  ore.  In  the 
diorite  the  masses  were  in  great  part  reduced  to 
fragments,  and  these  have  been  decomposed  and 
impregnated.  In  the  slate  the  fractures  mostly 
followed  the  cleavage,  and  the  deposit  there  as- 
sumes the  form  of  a  "stringer  lead."  The  claims 
to  the  southward  of  the  Treadwell  are  controlled 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  137 

by  the  same  company,  and  are  profitable,  but  the 
next  claim  to  the  northward  is  said  to  be  too  poor 
to  pay.  The  ore  of  Treadwcll  averages  only  $2.50 
to  $3  per  ton,  but,  owing  to  the  enormous  scale 
of  the  workings  there  is  a  large  profit  in  working 
it. 

The  Silver  Bow  basin  lies  about  three  miles 
north  of  east  of  Juneau.  A  considerable  number 
of  small  veins  -f  rather  rich  ore  occur  in  the 
southern  side  ot  th^  basin.  The  basin  was  for- 
merly occupied  by  a  large  glacier.  After  the  re- 
treat of  the  glacier  the  basin  was  occupied  by  a 
lake,  and  the  lake  beds  are  successfully  worked 
for  gold  by  the  hydraulic  process. 

Sheep  Creek  basin  is  separated  from  Silver 
Bow  basin  by  a  divide,  and  the  same  series  of 
quartz  veins  extend  into  it.  About  55  miles  to 
the  southeast  of  Juneau,  at  Sumdum,  there  is  a 
very  promising  vein  which  is  yielding  good  bul- 
lion, although  the  property  is  only  just  being  de- 
veloped. At  Seward  City,  near  Berners  Bay, 
about  50  miles  north  of  Juneau,  there  are  also 
veins  which  are  extremely  rich  at  some  points 
and  are  yielding  gold.  On  Admiralty  Island, 
about  30  miles  from  Juneau,  there  are  promising 
veins,  on  which  it  is  expected  that  mining  will 


138 


KLONDIKE. 


be  commenced  during  the  summer  of  1896,  Near 
Sitka,  especially  along  Silver  Bay  and  vn  the 
country  to  tlie  southeast  of  i.,  there  are  numer- 
ous veins,  some  of  which  have  yielded  a  little 
gold.  The  conditions  do  not  warrant  an  opinion 
as  to  their  future. 

At  Yakutat  Bay,  just  to  the  eastward  of  Mount 
St.  Elias,  there  has  been  some  beach  mining,  as 
there  has  also  been  along  the  west  shore  of  Ka- 
diak  Island.  The  case  of  working  and  the  unlim- 
ited supply  of  sand  make  beach  mining  on  the 
western  coast  of  Xorth  America  very  attractive, 
but  the  capriciousness  of  the  distribution  of  pay 
streaks  and  the  difhculty  of  saving  the  gold  com- 
monly rob  such  undertakings  of  success.  The 
amount  of  gold  which  occurs  in  this  manner  in 
the  sand  is  enormous,  but  as  yet  there  are  few  if 
any  reliable  records  of  large  profits  having  been 
made  from  beach  mines,  either  in  Alaska  or  to  the 
southward. 

On  Kadiak  Island,  in  Uyak  Bay,  there  are  sev- 
eral promising-looking  gold-quartz  veins,  2  feet 
or  so  in  thickness,  upon  which  prospecting  is  now 
going  on.  Strcain  gravels  are  also  being  worked 
on  Turn-again  Arm,  at  the  head  of  Cook  Inlet. 
The  only  s4.iCLessful  working  was  on  Bear  Creek, 


QUARTZ  MIXING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  139 

but  the  capriciousness  of  the  distributioa  of  pay 
Becker  could  obtain  the  average  results  were  not 
more  than  $5  per  day  per  man  .  A  later  report, 
received  after  Dr.  Becker's  visit,  is  thnt  richer 
gravel  has  been  discovered  near  the  head  of  Turn- 
again  Arm. 

The  island  of  Unga  is  in  the  Shumagin  Archi- 
pelago, about  a  thousand  miles  south  of  west 
from  Sitka,  Near  Delarofif  Bay,  on  this  island, 
is  the  Apollo  Consolidated  mine,  which  is  now 
yielding  at  the  rate  of  over  $300,000  a  year.  The 
ore  occurs  in  interstitial  spaces  in  a  crushed  zone 
of  andesite.  It  averages  between  $8  and  $9  per 
ton,  much  of  the  gold  being  free,  though  heavy 
bunches  of  sulphurets  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
in  it. 

Although  auriferous  quartz  has  been  found  on 
the  island  of  Unalaska,  nothing  like  a  mine  has 
yet  been  discovered. 

Speaking  of  the  gold  mines  of  Southeastern 
Alaska  as  early  as  1886  Governor  Swineford 
said: 

"The  extensive  reduction  works  on  Douglas 
Island,  opposite  Juneau,  are,  perhaps,  the  most 
complete  of  any  to  be  found  on  the  Pacific  slope. 


M;ii  ' 


■■\'' 


Ilk  I; 


140 


KLONDIKE. 


They  are  supplied  with  twenty-four  batteries  of 
five  stamps  each,  with  all  the  necessary  machin- 
ery and  appliances  for  the  extraction  of  the  free 
gold,  and  chlorination  worl:s  for  the  treatment 
of  the  sulphurets.  During  July  and  August  the 
mill,  running  to  not  much  more  than  half  its  full 
capacity,  turned  out  $115,000  in  gold  bullion, 
while  the  accumulated  sulphurets  (concentrates) 
awaiting  treatment  were  shown  by  frequent  as- 
says to  be  worth  not  less  than  $100,000  more. 

"Since  the  middle  of  September  the  mill  has 
been  running  to  its  full  capacity,  and  a  personal 
examination  of  the  mine  from  which  it  is  sup- 
plied with  ore  leads  me  to  confidently  expect 
very  much  better  results  from  this  time  forward. 
The  mine  itself  is  located  in  what  appears  to  be 
simply  a  great  mountain  of  gold-bearing  quartz. 
Into  this  immense  repository  of  th'^  precious 
metal  a  tunnel  has  ben  driven  to  a  length  of  near- 
ly, if'  not  quite,  500  feet,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
judge,  at  right  angles  with  the  trend  of  the  ledge, 
and  on  a  level  at  least  250  feet  below  the  outcrop 
on  which  the  miners  were  at  work  breaking  and 
milling  the  rock  down  through  a  winze  to  the 
tram-cars  in  the  tunnel,     A  careful  examination 


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QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.  141 


of  the  tunnel  reveals  well  defined  foot  and  hang- 
ing walls,  very  nearly  400  feet  apart,  between 
which  nothing  but  the  same  kind  of  rock  as  that 
being  milled  at  the  time  of  my  visit  can  be  seen 
on  either  side.  The  rock  is  what  is  called  "low 
grade  milling,"  carrying  free  gold  and  sulphu- 
rets,  and  yields  an  average,  I  am  told,  of  about 
$8  per  ton.  No  selection  of  the  rock  is  neces- 
sary, everything  from  between  the  walls  going 
to  the  stamps.  It  is  truly  a  phenomenal  deposit 
and  the  mine  one  that  promises  to  figure  more 
largely  in  the  mining  history  of  the  world  than 
any  other  of  which  we  have  any  record. 

"In  the  rear  of  Juneau  two  or  three  miles,  on 
the  mainland,  is  Silver  Bow  Basin,  where  some 
rich  placer  mines  are  being  worked,  but  thus  far 
I  have  not  been  aflForded  an  opportunity  to  visit 
or  examine  them.  The  value  of  the  product  of 
these  mines,  however,  has  been  estimated  by  wc  i- 
posted  persons  at  not  less  than  '^150,000  in  1884, 
and  the  opinion  pr^vr'ls  that  the  shipment  of 
"dust"  will  be  much  larger  the  present  year.  I 
noticed  while  in  Juneau  that  most  of  the  traders 
were  buying  gold  dust,  and  was  told  that  many 
of  the  miners  in  the  basin  were  doing  well,  and 
some  of  them  amassing  comfortable  fortunes. 


I 
i 


142 


KLONDIKE. 


Ill 


III 


"In  the  absence  of  other  discoveries  it  would 
yet  be  hardly  probable  that  the  gold-bearing- 
ledges  and  basins  of  the  Territory  should  be  con- 
fined to  this  one  particular  locality.  Fortunately 
there  is  abundant  evidence  going  to  show  that 
the  developments  at  Juneau  are  but  the  precur- 
sors of  others  yet  in  abeyance,  and  which  await 
only  the  application  of  similar  effort  in  the  way 
of  the  expenditure  of  labor  and  capital  to  make 
them  profitably  productive.  In  the  near  vicinity 
of  Sitka  there  are  promising  ledges,  one  of  which 
has  been  wrought  for  years  in  a  desultory  way 
by  a  single  prospector,  who,  doing  only  the  as- 
sessment work  required  by  the  mining  law,  has 
yet  been  able  to  support  himself  and  family  from 
the  proceeds  extracted  from  his  incipient  mine 
by  the  most  primitive  appliances — principally  an 
ordinary  hand  pestle,  mortar  and  pan.  While 
there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  existence  of  gold 
along  the  coast  range  of  mountains,  and  on  many 
of  the  islands  of  the  Alexander  Archipelago,  the 
geological  formation  and  general  characteristics 
of  which  appear  to  be  identical  with  those  of  the 
mainland,  the  work  of  devetopment  will  neces- 
sarily proceed  slowly  as  compared  to  the  prog- 


QUARTZ  MINING  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  ALASKA.   148 


ress  made  in  the  other  mining  districts  of  the 
United  States,  owing  to  the  difficulties  which  be- 
set the  path  of  the  prospector,  unless,  indeed,  con- 
venient access  to  tidewater  may  wholly  or  in 
part  be  found  to  counterbalance  the  disadvan- 
tages of  high  and  precipitous  mountains,  cov- 
ered with  a  dense  growth  of  timber,  underbrush 
and  fallen  trees,  with  two  or  three  feet  of  inter- 
twining, closely  woven  vines  and  moss  covering 
the  ground  itself,  and  which  will  obstruct  and 
render  more  than  usually  difficult  the  work  of 
exploration,  though  not  necessarily  an  obstruc- 
tion in  the  way  of  subsequent  mining  operations. 
The  difficulties  mentioned  will,  however,  be  par- 
tially obviated  by  the  first  discovery  in  any  par- 
ticular locality,  which  will  serve  as  a  starting 
point  from  which  to  prosecute  explorations  w'th 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  formation,  and,  con- 
sequently, with  much  less  labor  and  expense.  In 
addition  to  the  compensating  advantage  of  con- 
tiguity to  navigable  waters  there  is  unlimited 
water  power  for  the  operation  of  mining  and 
milling  machinery  and  an  abundance  of  timber 
for  all  purposes." 


■  .i\ 


I 


it    'I 


144  KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY. 

Although  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  only  just  be- 
ginning to  be  opened  to  the  surpassing  interest 
of  the  immense  area  of  country  watered  by  the 
Yukon  River,  there  are  men  living  to  whom  the 
marvelous  features  of  that  great  stretch  of  country 
are  no  new  thing.  A  very  good  authority  on  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  Yukon  is  Dr.  W.  H. 
Dall,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  in  Washing- 
ton, who  more  than  a  generation  ago  went  up  in- 
to that  country  with  the  Western  [Jnion  expedi- 
tion sent  out  to  survey  for  the  proposed  Russian- 
American  telegraph  line  and  who  has  made  sever- 
al journeys  to  the  same  region  since.  Dr.  Dall 
embodied  the  observations  of  his  early  visits  in 
a  book  published  in  1870,  entitled,  "Alaska  and 
its  Resources,"  which  is  easily  the  most  compre- 
hensive work  issued  on  the  general  subject  of  our 
Alaskan  possessions.  No  subsequent  explorers 
have  succeeded  in  fully  replacing  it,  although  the 
latest  census  reports  are  very  complete,  consid- 
ering the  difficulties  of  exploration. 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY. 


145 


What  the  Amazon  is  to  South  America,  the 
Mississippi  to  the  central  portion  of  the  United 
States,  the  Yukon  is  to  Alaska.  It  is  a  great  in- 
land highway,  which  will  make  it  possible  for  the 
explorer  to  penetrate  the  mysterious  fastness  of 
that  still  unknown  region.  The  Yukon  has  its 
source  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  of  British  Colum- 
bia, and  the  Coast  Range  Mountains  of  southeast- 
ern Alaska,  about  125  miles  from  the  city  of  Ju- 
neau, which  is  the  present  metropolis  of  Alaska. 
But  it  is  only  known  as  the  Yukon  River  at  the 
point  where  the  Pelly  River,  the  branch  that 
heads  in  British  Columbia,  meets  with  the 
Lewis  River,  which  heads  in  southeastern 
Alaska.  This  point  of  confluence  is  at 
Fort  Selkirk,  in  the  Northwest  Territory, 
about  125  miles  southeast  of  the  Klondike. 
The  Yukon  proper  is  2044  rrnlcs  in  length  From 
P'ort  Selkirk  it  flows  northwest  400  miles  just 
touching  the  Arctic  circle;  thence  southward  for  a 
distance  of  1600  miles,  where  it  empties  into  Be- 
ring Sea.  It  drains  more  than  (00,000  miles  square 
of  territory,  and  discharges  one-third  more  water 
into  Bering  Sea  than  does  the  Mississippi  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  its  mouth  it  is  sixty  miles 
wide.  About  1500  miles  inland  it  widens  out 
10 


,   s 


146 


KLONDIKE. 


i  !■ 


from  one  to  ten  miles.  A  thousand  islands  send 
the  channel  in  as  many  different  directions.  Only 
natives  who  are  thoronghly  familiar  with  the  river 
are  trusted  with  the  piloting  of  boats  up  tlie 
stream  during  the  season  of  low  water. 

Even  at  the  season  of  high  water  it  is  still  so 
shallow  as  not  to  be  navigable  anywhere  by  sea- 
going vessels,  but  only  by  flat-bottomed  boats 
with  a  carrying  capacity  of  four  to  five  hundred 
tons. 

The  Yukon  River  is  absolutely  closed  to  trav- 
el save  during  the  summer  months.  In  the  win- 
ter all  approaches  are  locked  with  impenetrable 
ice  and  the  summer  lasts  only  from  ten  to  twelve 
weeks,  from  about  the  middle  of  June  to  the  early 
part  of  September.  Then  an  unending  panorama 
of  extraordinary  picturesqueness  is  unfolded  to 
the  voyager.  The  banks  are  fringed  with  flowers 
carpeted  with  the  all  pervading  moss  or  tundra. 
Birds,  countless  in  numbers  and  of  infinite  va- 
riety of  plumage,  sing  out  a  welcome  from  every 
tree  top.  Pitch  your  tent  where  you  will  be  m 
midsummer,  a  bed  of  roses,  a  clump  of  poppies 
and  a  bunch  of  blue  bells  will  adorn  your  camp- 
ing. But  high  above  this  paradise  of  almost  trop- 
ical exuberance,  giant  glaciers  sleep  in  the  sum- 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        147 


mit  of  the  mountain  wall,  which  rises  up  from  a 
bed  of  roses,  has  disappeared  before  icy  breath  of 
the  Winter  King,  which  sends  the  thermometer 
down  to  eighty  degrees  below  the  freezing  point. 

The  Lewis  River  is  the  best  known  of  the  trib- 
utaries to  the  Yukon,  having  been  used  for  the 
past  twelve  years  as  the  highway  from  .Sout'n- 
castern  Alaska  to  the  gold  diggings  on  the  Yu- 
kon. Its  length  from  Lake  Lindeman,  one  of 
its  chief  sources,  to  the  junction  with  the  PcUy 
is  about  375  miles,  and  it  lies  entirely  in  British 
territory,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  miles  of  the 
lake  at  its  head. 

The  Pelly  River  takes  its  rise  about  JJease 
Lake,  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Stikine  River, 
with  a  length  of  some  500  miles  before  joining 
the  Lewis  to  form  the  Yukon  River.  The  union 
of  these  two  streams  forms  a  river  varying  from 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  in  width.  l''or 
many  miles  on  the  northern  bank  is  a  solid  wall 
of  lava,  compelling  a  swift  current  to  follow  a 
westerly  course  in  search  of  an  outlet  to  the 
north.  The  southern  bank  is  comparatively  low, 
formed  of  sandy,  alluvial  soil.  A  few  miles  above 
the  White  River  the  stream  takes  a  northerly 
course  through  a  rugged,  mountainous  country. 


i  ^ 


148 


KLONDIKE. 


receiving  the  addition  of  the  waters  of  the  White 
River  on  the  south,  so  called  from  the  milky  color 
of  its  water,  and  a  few  miles  farther  on  the  waters 
of  the  Stewart  on  the  north.  The  current  is  ex- 
ceedingly swift  here,  especially  at  a  high  stage 
of  water,  being  at  least  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour. 
From  Stewart  River  to  Fort  Reliance  both  banks 
are  closed  in  by  high  mountains,  formed  chiefly 
of  basalt  rock  and  slaty  shale.  Many  of  the  bluffs 
are  cut  and  worn  into  most  picturesque  shapes 
by  glacial  action.  At  Fort  Reliance,  an  aban- 
doned trading  post,  the  geh.  -^I  course  of  the 
stream  changes  to  northwest,  couc  ''*^s:  thus 
for  a  distance  of  about  500  miles,  or  as  far  as  the 
confluence  with  the  Porcupine  River,  which 
flows  from  the  north. 

Some  forty  miles  from  Fort  Reliance  the 
mouth  of  Forty  Mile  Creek  is  passed,  where  is 
located  the  miners'  trading  post  atii  where  for 
some  time  were  found  the  chief  gold  digymgs. 
Some  thirty-eight  miles  from  there  the  river 
crosses  the  eastern  boundary  of  Alaska.  For  a 
hundred  miles  after  crossing  the  boundary  the 
river  runs  in  one  broad  stream,  confined  on  ei- 
ther side  by  high  banks  and  a  mountainous 
country,  known  as  the  "Upper  Rampart."     It 


I  I 


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THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY         149 


then  widens  out,  and  for  a  distance  of  150  miles 
is  a  network  of  channels  and  small  islands.  At 
Old  Fort  Yukon,  an  abandoned  Hudson  Bay 
post,  it  attains  its  high  northern  latitude,  bcmg 
just  within  the  Arctic  circle.  From  main  bank 
to  bank  the  distance  has  been  found  to  be  ex- 
actly seven  miles  at  a  point  just  above  the  site 
of  Fort  Yukon.  This  place  is  probabb'  the  only 
serious  obstacle  to  navigation  that  is  met  with 
from  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  Fort  Selkirk,  a 
distance  of  over  one  thousand  six  hundred  miles, 
the  channel  here  shifting  from  year  to  year,  and 
at  certain  stages  of  water  it  is  difficult  to  find. 
From  Fort  Yukon  to  the  mouth  the  river  has 
been  frequently  traveled  and  well  described. 

According  to  Dr.  Dall  the  character  of  the 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Yukon  River  va- 
ries from  low,  rolling  and  somewhat  rocky  hills, 
usually  easy  of  ascent,  to  broad  and  rather  marshy 
plains,  extending  for  miles  on  either  side  of  the 
river,  especially  near  the  moutli.  There  arc  no 
roads,  except  an  occasional  trail,  hardly  notice- 
able exc^*  by  a  voyageur.  The  Yukon  and  its 
tributaries  torm  the  great  highways  of  the  coun- 
try . 

The  soil  is  usually  frozen  at  a  depth,  o*"  three 


Jlffl 


Si'  <  ! 

I    I 


rill 


150 


KLONDIKE. 


or  four  feet  in  ordinary  situations.  In  colder  ones 
it  remains  icy  to  within  eighteen  inches  of  the 
surface.  This  layer  of  frozen  soil  is  six  or  eight 
feet  thick.  Below  that  depth  the  soil  is  usually 
destitute  of  ice. 

This  phenomenon  appears  to  be  directly  trace- 
able to  want  of  drainage,  combined  with  non- 
conductive  covering  of  moss,  which  prevents  the 
scorching  sun  of  the  boreal  midsummer  from 
thawing  and  warming  the  soil. 

A  singular  phenomenon  on  the  shores  of  Es- 
choltz  Bay,  Kotzebue  Sound,  was  first  observed 
and  described  in  the  voyage  of  the  Rurik  by 
Kotzebue  and  Chamisso,  and  afterwards  in  t]ie 
appendix  to  the  voyage  of  the  Herald  by  Buck- 
land  and  Forbes. 

It  consists  of  blufifs  or  banks  (thirty  to  sixty 
feet  high)  of  apparently  solid  ice,  fronting  the 
water,  which  washes  on  a  small  beach  formed  by 
detritus,  at  the  foot  of  the  bank.  These  contin- 
uous banks  of  ice,  strange  to  say,  are  covered 
with  a  layer  of  soil  and  vegetable  matter,  where, 
to  use  the  words  of  the  renowned  botanist.  Or. 
Seemann,  "herbs  and  shrubs  are  flourishing  vviih 
a  luxuriance  only  equaled  in  more  favored 
climes." 


■l|H    '1* 


1 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        151 


The  climate  of  the  Yukon  Territory  in  the  in- 
terior  (as  is  the  case  throughout  Alaska)  differs 
from  that  of  the  sea  coast,  even  in  localities  com- 
^^^H^atively  adjacent.  That  of  the  coast  is  tem- 
pt .d  by  the  vast  body  of  water  contained  in 
Tiering  Sea,  and  many  southern  currents  bring- 
ing warmer  water  from  the  Pacific,  making  the 
winter  climate  of  the  coast  much  milder  than  that 
of  the  country,  even  thirty  miles  into  the  interior; 
this,  too,  without  any  high  range  of  mountains 
acting  as  a  bar  to  the  progress  of  warm  winds. 
The  summers,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  quan- 
tity of  rain  and  cloudy  weather,  are  cooler  and 
less  pleasa;-t  than  those  of  the  interior.  The 
months  T  May  and  June,  however,  and  part  of 
July,  ;*\  drr^htful — sunny,  warm  and  clear.  To 
quott  !  •  •^''im  again,  on  the  northern  coast, 
"the  gro'.v  ;!  of  plants  is  rapid  in  the  extreme. 
The  snow  h  i5  hardly  disappeared  before  a  mass 
of  herbage  las  sprung  up,  and  the  spots  which 
a  few  days  before  presented  nothing  but  a  white 
sheet  are  teeming  with  active  vegetation,  pro- 
ducing leaves,  flowers  and  fruits  in  rapid  succes- 
sion "  Even  during  the  long  Arctic  day  'he 
pla-  I  ''ave  their  period  of  sleep,  short,  thous^h 
plainl_^     iiarkid,  as  in  the  tropics,  and  indicated 


I  i  i 


M . 

V- 

li 

1j 

t  t 

s  ' 

:■!  i 

1 

il 

152 


KLONDIKE. 


by  the  same  drooping  of  the  leaves  and  other 
signs,  which  we  obser  '^  milder  climates.  Tlio 
following  table  shows  i\.  ean  temperature  of 
the  seasons  at  St.  Michael's,  on  the  coast  of  Nor- 
ton Sound,  in  latitude  63  degrees  28  minutes;  at 
the  Mission,  on  the  Yukon  River,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  latitude  61  de- 
grees 47  minutes;  at  Nulato,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  farther  up  the  river,  in  latitude  64  de- 
grees 40  minutes  (approximate),  and  at  Fort  Yu- 
kon, twelve  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  and  about  latitude  66  degrees  34  min- 
utes : 
Means  for      St.Mich's.  Mission.  Nulato.  Ft.Y'n. 

Spring    29.3         19.62         29.3         14.22 

Summer    53.0         59.32        60.0        59.67 

Autumn   26.3        36.05        36.0        iy.T^y 

Winter   8.6  0.95         14.0        23.80 

Year 29.3        26.48        27.8        16.92 

The  mean  annual  temperature  of  the  Yukon 
Territory,  as  a  whole,  may  be  roughly  estimated 
at  about  25  degrees.  Open  water  may  be  ffAUid 
on  all  the  rivers  in  the  coldest  weather  and  miny 
springs  are  not  frozen  up  throughout  the  yea'*. 

At  Fort  Yukon  Dr.  Dall  says  he  has  seen  ihc 
thermometer  at  noon,  not  in  the  direct  rays  of  the 


THE  VVONDERFLL  VUKuN  COLNTRV 


153 


sun,  standing  at  112  degrees,  and  he  was  in- 
formed by  the  commander  of  the  post  that  sev- 
eral spirit  thermometers  graduated  up  to  120 
degrees  had  burst  under  the  scorching  sun  01 
the  Arctic  midsummer,  which  can  only  be  thor 
oughly  appreciated  by  one  who  has  endured  it. 
In  midsummer  on  the  Upper  Yukon  the  only 
relief  fiom  the  intense  heat,  under  which  the 
vegetation  attains  an  almost  tropical  luxuriance, 
is  the  brief  space  during  which  the  sun  b.overs 
over  the  northern  horizon. 

The  rain  fall  is  nuich  greater  in  summer  on 
the  coast  than  in  the  interior.  The  months  of 
May,  June  a.nd  part  of  July  bring  sunny,  delight- 
ful weather;  but  the  remainder  of  the  season,  four 
days  in  a  week  at  least,  will  be  rainy  at  St.  Mich- 
ael's. October  brings  a  change.  The  winds,  us- 
ually from  the  southwest  from  July  to  the  latter 
part  of  September,  in  October  arc  mostly  from 
the  north,  and,  though  cold,  bring  fine  weather. 
They  are  interrupted  occasionally  by  gales,  the 
most  violent  of  the  season,  from  the  southwest; 
piling  the  driftwood  upon  the  shores,  where  it 
lies  until  the  succeeding  fall,  unless  carried  off  by 
the  natives  for  fuel. 

The  vallev  of  the  Lower  Yukon  is  somewhat 


rt^ 


154 


KLONDIKE. 


m 


ml 

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V 

,-*a  1    is   ,    > 

ij  §i  i     ^  j           i 

|;f Hi    M    , 

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II  I 


foggy  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer;  but  as 
the  river  is  ascended  the  climate  improves  and  the 
short  sumnrer  at  Fort  Yukon  is  dry,  hot  and 
pleasant,  only  varied  by  an  occasional  shower. 

The  timber  growths  of  the  country  are  mostly 
evergreen,  and  arc  not  so  sparse  as  might  i>e  sup- 
posed. Dall  says  almost  all  parts  of  the  Yukon 
territory  are  well  supplied.  Ivan  Petrofif,  special 
agent  for  the  tenth  census,  says  the  timber  line 
follows  the  coast  line  at  varying  distances  of  lOO 
to  150  miles  from  the  seaboard.  It  is  of  little  val- 
ue for  building  purposes.  The  forests  are  likely 
soon  to  be  depleted. 

The  largest  and  most  valuable  tree  found  in  this 
district  is  the  white  spruce,  which  is  found  over 
the  whole  country  a  short  distance  inland,  but 
largest  and  most  vigorous  in  the  vicinity  of  run- 
ning water.  It  attains  not  unfrequently  ihe 
height  of  fifty  to  one  himdred  feet,  with  a  diame- 
ter of  over  three  feet  near  the  butt;  but  the  most 
common  size  is  thirty  or  forty  feet  and  twelve  to 
,  eighteen  niches  at  the  bult.  It  is  quite  durable. 
Many  houses,  twenty  years  old,  built  of  this  tim- 
ber, contained  a  majority  of  sound  logs,  but  when 
used  green,  without  proper  seasoning,  it  will  not 
last  over  fifteen  years.     These  trees  decrease  in 


THE  WUNlJEUFUl-  YUKON  COUNTRY.        155 


size,  and  -row  more  sparingly  near  Fort  Yukon, 
but  are  still  large  enough  for  most  purposes. 

The  tree  of  next  importance  in  the  economy 
of  the  inhabit  its  is  the  birch.  This  tree  rarely 
grows  over  eighteen  inches  in  diameter  and  forty 
feet  high. 

Several  species  of  poplar  abound,  the  former 
along  the  water  side  and  the  latter  on  drier  up- 
lands. The  first  mentioned  species  grows  to  a 
very  large  size,  frequently  two  or  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  forty  to  sixty  feet  high.  The  tim- 
Ijer,  however,  is  of  little  value,  but  tlie  extreme 
softness  of  the  wood,  is  often  taken  advantage  of 
by  the  natives  with  their  rude  iron  or  stone  axes, 
to  make  small  boards  or  other  articles  for  use  in 
their  lodges.  They  also  rub  up  with  charcoal  the 
down  from  the  seed-vessels  for  tinder. 

Willows  and  alders  are  the  most  abundant  of 
trees  and  all  sizes  of  the  former  may  be  found. 

The  treeless  coasts  of  the  territory,  as  well  as 
the  lowlands  of  the  Yukon,  are  covered  in  spring 
with  a  most  luxuriant  growth  of  grass  and  flow- 
ers. Among  the  more  valuable  of  these  grasses 
is  the  Kentucky  blue  grass,  which  grows  as  far 
north  as  Kotzbue  Sound,  and  on  the  coast  of  Nor- 
ton Sound  with  a  truly  surprising  luxuriance.  It 


156 


KLONDIKE. 


i>  I'. 


IHi 
In 


reaches  in  very  favorable  situations  four  or  even 
five  feet  in  height  and  averages  at  least  three  feet. 

Grain  has  never  been  sown  to  any  extent  in 
the  Yukon  territory.  Barley  was  once  or  twice 
tried  at  Fort  Yukon  in  small  patches  and  succeed- 
ed in  maturing  the  grain,  though  the  straw  was 
very  short.  Attempts  were  also  maut_  at  Forty- 
Mile  Post  in  1890. 

Turnips  and  radishes  always  flourished  ex- 
tremely well  at  St.  Michael,  and  the  same  is  said 
of  Nulato  and  Fort  Yukon.  Potatoes  succeeded 
at  the  latter  pi.  -e,  though  the  tubers  were  small. 
They  were  regularly  planted  for  several  years,  un- 
til the  seed  was  lost  by  freezing  during  the  winter. 
At  St.  Michael  they  did  not  do  well. 

Salad  was  successful,  but  cabbage  would  not 
head.  The  white  round  turnips,  grown  at  St. 
Michael,  from  European  seed,  were  very  large, 
some  weighing  five  or  six  pounds. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  upper  Yukon,  from  the 
Tanana  River  to  the  boundary,  form  part  of  the 
family  known  to  ethnologists  as  Athapascan  or 
Tinneh  Indians,  a  widely  dispersed  people, 
tribes  of  which  extend  over  the  country  enclosed 
by  the  Porcupine  River,  the  Peel  River  to  the 
MacKenzie,  the  upper  Yukon  to  the  neighbor- 


i*^^W 


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THE  WONDERIJL  YUKON  COUNTRY, 


157 


hood  of  the  Stick  Indians  in  the  south  and  to  the 
southeast  in  the  McMillan  River  country.  Thev 
speak  of  themselves,  however,  as  Yukon  Indians. 
Their  language  has  been  put  into  print  by  the 
venerable  Robert  McDonald,  archdeacon,  Bibles 
and  hymn  books  being  universally  read  by  all 
from  Nuklukayet  up.  They  are  of  average  size, 
lithe  and  active,  many  of  them  being  quite  grace- 
ful in  their  carriage.  In  appearance  they  ap- 
proach the  typical  North  American  Indians; 
sharp  features,  aquiline  nose,  and  high  cheek 
bones,  with  very  small  feet  and  hands.  They  are 
nomadic  in  their  ways  of  life,  living  in  temporary 
camps  both  winter  and  summer,  either  in  the 
mountains  or  on  the  river  banks,  according  to  the 
habits  of  the  game  they  are  hunting. 

Some  few  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mining 
camp  are  perceptibly  changing  their  mode  of  life. 
Around  the  trading  post  at  Forty  Alile  Creek 
there  are  a  number  of  log  cabins  built  and  inhabi- 
ted by  them  the  year  around,  and  they  fully  ap- 
preciate the  advantages  of  stoves  and  clothing 
from  the  States.  The  younger  men  are  said  to  be 
more  fastidious  in  their  dress  than  the  average 
white  man.  They  are  industrious  and  fairly  en- 
terprising, many  of  them  working  successfully  at 


i';,i; 


I'll  I  : 

III  ! 

ii 


I  ' 


168 


KLONDIKE. 


mining  for  wages  paid  by  the  whites,  and  soir.c 
are  mining  on  their  own  account:.  They  make 
excellent  boatmen,  pohng  a  boat  with  skill,  boats 
built  of  sawed  lumber  being  preferred  for  river 
navigation  to  their  ov.n  birch  canoes.  Docile 
and  peaceable  both  among  themselves  and  witli 
the  miners,  they  are  strongly  imbued  with  the 
teachings  of  the  English  missionaries,  with  whom 
they  had  more  or  less  intercourse  for  many  years 
previous  to  occupation  of  the  country  by  the 
United  States.  Formerly  their  chief  subsistence 
was  cariboo  and  moose  meat,  and  fish  they  only 
knew  during  the  summer  and  fall,  but  since  tiie 
arrival  ot  th^  miners  they  depend  each  year  more 
and  more  on  white  men's  pro\'isions.  Obtaining 
pay  for  work,  they  also  avoid  the  necessity  of 
hunting  for  f^ir  to  buy  provisions  with,  as  used 
to  be  the  case  in  former  years;  hence  the  falling 
olT  of  the  supply  of  furs  from  that  section. 

The  population  is  very  sparse.  At  certain 
times  during  the  year  a  traveler  might  pass  down 
the  Yukon  from  Forty  l^lilc  Creek  to  Nuklukayct 
and  hardly  see  a  score  of  natives  in  a  distance  of 
800  miles.  The  different  villages  or  communities 
seem  to  be  under  the  guidance  of  chiefs  and  sub- 
chiefs,  though  there  does  not  appear  to  be  much 
authoritv  exerted  bv  them. 


1  i!ll. 


illii 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKOiN  COUNTRY.        169 


:ll 


Their  mode  of  transportation  in  summer  time 
is  by  rafts,  boats  and  birch  canoes,  and  is  entire- 
ly confined  to  the  streams  and  water  courses;  in 
the  winter  time  sleds  are  used,  drawn  by  dogs, 
men  or  women.  Their  language  is  known  to  the 
missionaries  as  a  dialect  of  Tukudh  frukuth),  but 
they  converse  with  the  traders  in  a  jargon  called 
'"slavey,"  a  mixture  of  Canadian  French  and  hy- 
'  words  of  English,  something  in  the  nature  of 
Chinook"  of  southeastern  Alaska. 

At  Nuklukayet  and  down  to  the  vicinity  of 
Nulato  changes  are  to  be  observed  in  the  na- 
tives; though  very  similar  in  general  appearance, 
they  seem  to  be  a  mixture  of  tribes  from  the 
Koyukuk  and  Tanana  Rivers  and  of  Ingalik, 
from  lower  down  the  Yukon. 

Their  language  is  difTcrent,  though  many  can 
converse  in  a  dialect  that  is  understood  by  the 
Upper  Yukon  people.  They  are  not  so  nomadic 
in  their  way  of  life,  living  in  villages,  building 
log  cabins  and  huts  of  earth  and  logs.  They  de- 
pend most  largely  on  the  supply  of  fish  and  not 
so  much  on  game.  They  are  mostly  addicted  to 
paganism,  being  more  superstitious  and  depend- 
ing on  instructions  from  the  shaman,  or  medi- 
cine man.    They  also  are  becoming  yearly  more 


160 


KLONDIKE. 


i>i 


M     ■' 


■|i;!  ! 


dependent  on  provisions  from  the  States,  but 
have  to  procure  them  by  trapping  fur-bearing  an- 
imals to  a  far  larger  extent  than  those  of  the  up- 
per river.  They  are  shrewd  traders,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  every  point.  They  do  not  so  readily 
adapt  themselves  to  the  ways  of  the  white  man. 
They  are  more  pugnacious,  quick-tempered,  re- 
senting a  fancied  injury  or  insult  very  quickly 
with  force.  Many  years  ago  some  of  them  killed 
a  white  woman,  the  wife  of  a  trader  at  a  post  a 
few  miles  up  the  Tanana  River,  at  the  instigation 
of  a  shaman.  Some  years  ago  at  Nuklukayet,  on 
account  of  a  disagreement  with  a  trader,  they 
broke  open  the  store,  scattered  the  goods  about 
recklessly  and  would  have  shed  blood  if  they 
had  not  met  with  adequate  resistance.  Relig- 
ions teaching  does  not  seem  to  have  the  same  ef- 
fect upon  them  as  on  the  natives  on  the  upper 
river.  They  have  had  visits  from  Russian  priests 
and  resident  English  missionaries  in  past  }ears, 
without  much  notable  effect  upon  their  lives  or 
morals.  Their  villages  are  only  found  on  the 
main  river,  hunting  parties  only  going  into  the 
back  country  temporarily,  at  which  time  all  the 
members  of  the  families  take  part  in  the  expedi- 
tion.   The  population  found  on  this  part  of  the 


THE  WONDERKUI.  YUKON  COUNTRY. 


161 


river  is  much  larger  than  that  of  the  Upper  Yu- 
kon. There  is  no  time  of  tlie  year  when  more  or 
less  people  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  villages, 
and  we  find  among  them  a  larger  proportion  of 
females  than  on  the  Upper  Yukon.  Some  time 
ago  the  lack  of  females  was  most  noticeable 
among  the  Indians  of  the  upper  river,  attributa- 
ble to  hard  usage  and  the  work  they  were  com- 
])elled  to  do,  as  well  as  to  the  lack  of  care  of 
female  children.  Of  late,  however,  female  chil- 
tlren  have  been  better  taken  care  of,  and  proba- 
bly in  course  of  time  there  will  be  more  mar- 
riageable women  among  them.  Most  of  the  tnar- 
ried  women  to  be  seen  there  at  present  come 
from  the  Koyukuk  or  the  Lower  Yukon  River. 
The  Nuklukayet  and  Nowikaket  people  claim 
to  have  their  origin  from  the  tribe  on  the  Koyu- 
kuk River  in  the  north.  The  Tanana  River  and 
Upper  Yukon  Indians  speak  an  entirely  different 
language,  though  there  is  a  dialect  by  which 
they  can  communicate  with  the  various  tribes. 

The  fur  trade  has  undergone  considerable 
change  of  late  years,  the  catch  of  furs  being  con- 
siderable less  than  formerly,  partly  owing  to  the 
decrease  of  fur-bearing  animals,  and  also  to  their 
being  more  white  men  in  the  country,  indepen- 
11 


162 


KLONDIKE. 


dent  of  the  fur  traders,  causing  the  circulation  of 
more  money  among  the  natives,  with  which  they 
buy  instead  of  trading  furs.  The  average  catch 
of  land  furs  for  the  whole  year  ranges  from  i6.- 
ooo  to  20,000  pelts,  usually  with  a  large  propor- 
tion of  mink  skins,  the  lowest -priced  fur  on  the 
iiiarket. 

There  are  several  trading  villages  along  the 
river  in  Alaska.  The  traders,  to  reach  the  back 
country,  usually  fit  out  trusty  natives  with  small 
stock  of  goods  to  travel  among  the  distant  tribes. 
Since  the  discontinuance  of  opjKJsition  the  white 
traders  do  not  travel  in  the  winter.  The  prices 
paid  are  regulated  by  the  standard  price  of  red 
fox  or  martin,  called  one  skin,  about  $1.25.  A 
prime  beaver  would  be  two  skins,  black  bear 
four  skins,  lynx  one  skin,  land  otter  two  or  three 
skins  and  so  on.  Five  yards  of  drilling  or  one 
pound  of  tea  or  one  pound  of  powder  or  half  a 
pound  of  powder  with  one  box  of  caps  and  one 
pound  of  shot  are  given  for  one  i;kin,  fifty  pounds 
of  flour  for  four  skins,  five  pounds  of  sugar  for 
one  skin.  These  are  sample  prices  obtained  by 
the  natives,  with  little  variation,  until  the  mining 
district  is  reached,  where  the  prices  are  higher, 
to  conform  with  the  prices  charged  to  miners. 

The  merchandise  is  carried  on  the  river  bv 


one 
f  a 
one 
inds 
for 
by 
ning 
her, 
■s. 
r  by 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        165 

means  of  stem-wheel  steaincr.-;,  the  two  principle 
ones  belonging  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  crom- 
pany,  one  of  200  tons,  the  other  of  thirty  tons 
capacity,  carrying  freight  and  passengers.  On 
the  larger  boat  there  is  a  white  man  lor  captain 
and  another  for  engineer,  but  both  captain  and 
engineer  are  unlicensed  and  without  papers;  the 
rest  of  the  crew  are  Indians.  There  are  three 
other  small  steamers,  two  belonging  to  the  Rus- 
sian and  Catholic  missionaries  respectively  and 
one  to  the  traders  at  Fort  Selkirk.  All  supplies 
are  received  at  St.  Michael  on  Norton  Sound, 
fifty  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon, 
the  furs  and  gold  obtained  being  turned  over  to 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  agent  there 
and  shipped  to  San  Francisco.  Once  a  year,  in 
June,  the  missionaries  and  traders  assemble  at 
St.  Michael's  and  for  a  few  days  that  place  is  do- 
ing a  nishing  business.  It  has  become  a  regular 
fair  for  the  natives,  who  gather  in  numbers  from 
various  points  on  the  coast  and  river,  getting  a 
few  days'  work  from  the  company  and  having  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  new  stock  of  merchan- 
dise. 

The  influx  of  miners  to  the  country  has  pro- 
duced marked  changes  among  the  natives,  aiul 


164 


KLONDIKE. 


not  to  their  benefit  morally.  The  illicit  manu- 
facture and  use  of  liquor,  both  by  the  traders  of 
the  company  and  miners,  is  demoralizing  the  na- 
tives to  a  great  extent.  It  is  openly  carried  on 
both  the  upper  and  lower  rivers.  At  Andreafsky, 
on  the  lower  river,  it  is  a  common  sight  to  see 
intoxicated  natives,  more  especially  in  the  win- 
ter, and  the  natives  have  now  learned  the  pro- 
cess of  making  liquor  themselves,  more  particii- 
larly  on  the  coast  and  the  Lower  Yukon. 

On  the  coast  the  temperature  varies  from  jc^ 
degrees  Fahrenheit  in  summer  to  40  degrees  and 
45  degrees  below  zero  in  the  winter.  The  late 
summer  and  fall  is  usually  stormy  and  wet,  the 
snow  fall  in  winter  being  from  three  to  five  feet 
on  a  level.  Navigation  is  closed  to  the  outside 
for  seven  months  in  the  year  by  heavy  ice  on  the 
sea.  The  Yukon  River  is  closed  by  ice  from  No- 
vember to  the  end  of  May.  In  the  interior  the 
climate  is  dryer  and  warmer  in  summer,  but  many 
degrees  colder  in  winter,  the  thermometer  going 
as  low  as  75  degrees  below  zero.  The  snow  fall 
is  excessive,  but  less  wind  prevails  here  in  winter 
than  on  the  coast. 

For  many  miles  on  the  lower  river  the  banks 
are  devoid  of  timber  other  than    a    stumpage 


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THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY.        166 


w 


P13 


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growth  of  willow  brush,  alder  and  cottonwood. 
The  first  spruce  timber  is  seen  some  fifty  miles 
below  the  Russian  mission,  at  Ikomiut,  and  from 
there  up  to  its  head  the  river  is  more  or  less 
belted  with  timber,  spruce,  fir,  hemlock,  birch, 
alder  and  cottonwood  being  the  varieties  most 
predominant. 

On  tlie  low  islands  and  flats  the  spruce  at- 
tain;-, a  considerable  size,  but  as  lumber  it  is  not 
adapted  for  any  purpose  beyond  the  needs  of  the 
miners  and  others  in  the  country,  being  checked 
liy  frc.st  snd  full  of  knots.  The  growth  of  tim- 
ber scemt  to  be  entirely  confined  to  the  margins 
of  the  streams  and  rivers  in  many  instances  being 
merely  a  fringe  on  the  banks. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  berries  to  be  found 
ail  through  the  country ;  high  and  low  bush  cran- 
bcrrici;.  blueberries,  salmon  berries,  red  currants, 
and  rasj, berries.  Tlie  salmon  or  dewberries  abound 
on  the  swampy  lands  of  tiie  Lower  Yukon,  and 
are  gathered  by  the  natives  in  q-uantities.  who 
preserve  them  by  burying  them  in  tho  grosiMl, 
using  them  as  a  delicacy  in  the  winter,  ,.iixed 
with  seal  oil  or  deer  fat  and  snow. 

Game  is  said  to  be  scarce,  considering  the  im- 


» 


166 


KLO    DIKE. 


mense  stretches  of  uninhabited  country.  Numer- 
ous signs  are  to  be  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  main 
river,  but  so  far  few  white  men  have  proved  suc- 
cessful hunters,  owing  to  the  difficuhies  of  travel. 
An  Indian  traveling  with  no  impediments  can 
scour  over  the  country,  and,  being  acquainted 
with  every  game  sign,  can  obtain  some  reward 
for  his  exertion,  where  a  white  man  would  starve. 

Though  some  distance  to  the  north  of  the  en- 
trance of  the  Yukon  River,  St.  Michael  has  al- 
ways been  a  controlling  centre  and  basis  of  sup- 
plies for  the  great  river  of  tL  far  northwest. 
From  here  the  hardy  Muscovite  pioneers  pusiied 
their  advance  slowly  and  laboriously  with  clumsy 
boats  in  skin-covered  "bidars,"  and  trudging  over 
the  frozen  snow  plains  with  their  dog  teams  until 
the  met  the  forerunners  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany on  their  way  down  the  river,  which  English 
geographers  of  that  time  pictured  as  emptying 
into  the  Arctic. 

As  long  as  the  Russians  were  in  possession  of 
this  region  all  furs  secured  in  the  Kuskokwim 
^  alley  were  transported  over  the  Yukon  portage 
to  St.  Michael,  and  thence  shipped  to  Sitka,  to- 
gether with  those  obtained  by  barter  from  the 
natives    of  the    shores    and    islands  of    Bering 


\ 
) 


THE  WONDERFUL  YUKON  COUNTRY. 


167 


Strait.  The  first  American  traders  to  engage 
in  the  Yukon  trade  were  members  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  expedition,  and  foremost 
among  these  pioneers  were  Ketchum  and  Clark. 
Later  came  Mercier,  a  brother  of  the  Canadian 
ex-minister,  and  a  host  of  other  French  Canadi- 
ans, together  with  three  prospectors,  McQueston, 
Mayo  (Americans),  and  Harper  (an  Englishman), 
who  still  control  the  trade  and  much  of  the  min- 
ing industry  of  the  Upper  Yukon  and  its  trib- 
utaries from  Fort  Selkirk  westward. 

The  basis  of  supplies  for  the  whole  district 
was  early  taken  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany, who  at  first  utilized  a  small  stern-wheel 
steamer  placed  upon  the  nver  by  the  telegraph 
company,  and  later  built  other  vessels  for  the  pur- 
pose of  towing  loaded  barges  up  the  river.  Later 
the  firms  «vho  entered  into  competition  with  the 
company  ii.  other  districts  made  a  lodgment  near 
St.  Michael,  and  another  steamer  was  placed  upon 
the  river. 

In  the  year  1883  this  opposition  collapsed,  but 
shortly  after  the  bar  diggings  of  Forty  Mile 
Creek  and  other  parts  of  the  Upper  Yukon  were 
discovered,  which  caused  a  sudden  revival  of 
trade,  chiefly  in  miners'  supplies,  and  induced  the 


168 


KLONDIKE. 


m 


I 


traders  mentioned  above  to  acquire  small  steam- 
boats of  their  own. 

It  was  not  long  before  new  competition  ap- 
peared, and  three  years  ago  the  concern  known 
as  the  North  American  Transportation  and  Trad- 
ing Company,  was  organized,  with  lieadqiiarters 
in  Chicago,  and  its  chief  trading  and  distributing 
post  at  Fort  Cudahy.  Tnis  company  dispatches 
ocean  steamers  from  San  Francitco  to  St.  Mich- 
ael, where  the  merchandise  is  transhipped  into 
river  steamers  and  carried  to  points  inland. 


CHAPTER  X. 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 

Not  until  capital  flows  into  the  country  in 
great  streams  will  the  real  extent  of  the  unde- 
veloped mineral  resources  of  Alaska  begin  to  be 
revealed.  When  commimication  has  opened  up 
so  that  the  gold  boimd  up  in  the  quartz  of  the 
interior  can  be  separated  with  profit  the  true 
wealth  of  the  country  .vill  appear.  The  quartz 
mines  of  southeastern  Alaska  arc  fullv  described 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


169 


fl 


in  the  chapter  on  that  subject,  but  the  quartz  of 
the  interior  according  to  all  indications  is  far 
more  rich  in  gold. 

"I  think  it  may  with  confidence  be  asserted," 
says  Ogilvie,  "that  rich  finds  will  yet  be  made  of 
both  coarse  gold  and  gold-bearing  quartz.  It  is 
not  likely  in  the  nature  of  things  that  such  a  vast 
extent  of  country  should  have  all  its  fine  gold 
deposited  as  sediment,  brought  from  a  distance 
in  past  ages  of  the  world's  development.  If  this 
is  not  the  case,  the  matrix  from  which  all  the 
gold  on  these  streams  has  come,  must  still  exist, 
in  part  at  least,  and  will  no  doubt  be  discovered, 
and  thus  enrich  this  otherwise  gloomy  and  deso- 
late region." 

Mr.  Ogilvie,  in  his  official  reports  to  the  Cana- 
dian government  during  1895  and  1896,  described 
discoveries  of  gold  which  have  not  perhaps  at- 
tracted as  much  attention  as  they  ought.  On 
January  8,  1896,  he  writes :  "Gold  beairing  ([uartz 
has  been  found  i>i  Cone  Hill,  which  stands  mid- 
way in  the  valley  of  the  Forty-mile  River,  a 
couple  of  miles  above  the  junction  with  the  Yu- 
kon. The  quantity  in  sight  rivals  that  of  the 
Treadwell  mine  on  the  coast,  and  the  quality  is 
better,  so  much  so  that  it  is  thought  it  will  pay 


170 


kLONUlKI£. 


well  to  work  it  even  under  tlu  conditions  exist- 
ing here.  Indications  in  sight  point  to  the  con- 
clusion tnat  the  whole  hill  is  composed  of  this 
metalliferous  rock."  On  June  lo,  i8l)6,  he 
writes:  "Assays  of  the  C'one  Hill  quartz  are  very 
.satisfactory,  and  the  cjuantity  good  for  genera- 
tions of  work;  were  it  on  the  coast  the  Treadwell 
mine  would  be  diminutive  beside  it.  Five  tons  of 
rock  are  being  sent  out  from  it  for  a  mill  test  and, 
should  they  prove  as  satisfactory  as  the  test  of  a 
ton  sent  out  last  year,  I  understand  the  parties 
owning  it  will  proceed  to  develop  it.  If  it  starts 
and  proves  reasonably  successful  there  are  scores 
of  other  places  in  the  country  that  may  yield  as 
well.  An  expert  here  (Fort  Oudahy)  who  pros- 
pects for  the  North  American  Transportation  & 
Trading  Company,  found  l  ledge  last  spring  on 
the  Chanindu  River  of  Schwatka  (known  as 
Twelve-mile  Creek  here)  and  located  two  full 
claims  on  it.  He  told  me  the  assay  he  made  of 
my  specimens  of  it  was  much  more  satisfactory 
than  that  at  Cone  Hill,  and  this  ledge  he  claims 
is  where  a  commencement  should  be  made  in 
quartz  milling  in  this  country  and  there  would  be 
no  fear  of  the  result.  He  appears  to  be  pretty 
well  versed  in  mining  lore,  is  a  practical  assayer 


MINERAl-  RESOURCES. 


171 


— that  is  his  profession — and  iie  says  he  never 
saw  or  'oad  of  anything  hke  it  for  extent  in  the 
world." 

IVof.  Lindeman,  the  consuhing  and  mining 
engineer  of  Chicago  who  traveled  through  the 
Yukon  country  in  1871  and  1873,  and  for  whom 
Lake  Linueman  was  named  by  Schwatka,  made 
a  careful  examination  of  the  mineral  zone  so  far 
as  he  wa;>  able.  He  says  he  found  it  extending 
east  and  .vest.  "I  think,"  he  says,  "that  the  en- 
tire country-  is  mineral  territory  and  the  entire 
Alaskan  range  gold  bearing,  the  placers  found  on 
every  stream  leading  from  the  range  on  either 
side.  The  ledges  are  of  tremendous  width,  but 
the  gold  bearing  rock  is  of  low  grade  and  can- 
not be  profitably  worked  without  the  aid  of  cap- 
ital. Were  500,000  people  to  go  there  every  year 
for  ten  years  not  all  the  mineral  land  would  be 
covered."  Prof.  Lindeman  predicts  that  good 
districts  for  prospecting  will  exist  untouched  by 
white  men  years  after  the  Klondike  stampede  is 
over.  He  says:  "When  railroads  arc  built, 
steamboat  facilities  found,  and  the  civilization  of 
the  country  advanced  there  will  then  be  even  bet- 
ter opportunities  for  gold  hunting  in  Alaska  than 
in  the  present  conditions." 


1 


172 


KLONDIKE. 


!1 


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"Gold  is  less  important  than  coal,"  said  Charles 
Sumner,  in  his  remarkable  speech  of  April  8, 
1867,  wlien  the  treaty  of  cession  was  under  con- 
sideration in  the  Senate,  and  indeed  it  may  be 
i|uestioned  whether  in  the  future  development 
of  Alaska's  mineral  resources  the  coal  which  may 
be  dug  out  in  great  quantities  at  many  widely 
sep  irated  places  in  the  territory  will  not  be  found 
to  occupy  almost  as  high  a  place  in  consideration 
as  the  more  eagerly  sought  and  highly  prized 
metal.  For  v/ith  the  rapid  depletion  of  the  tim- 
ber growths  of  the  country  and  its  dif!iculty  of 
access  the  question  of  fuel  is  bound  to  be  a  vital 
one.  In  considering  this  question  it  is  interesting 
to  know  that  as  far  back  as  1878,  Major  William 
Gouvencur  Morris,  special  agent  of  the  Treasury 
Department, reported  officially  to  Secretary  Sher- 
man that  the  conditions  for  successful  mining 
in  Alaska  were  far  superior  to  those  afforded  in 
Arizona  or  the  Black  Hills,  in  respect  to  the 
abundance  of  fuel.  "Heat,"  he  said,  "is  looked 
upon  as  the  great  agent  in  the  formation  of  min- 
eral veins,  and  with  plenty  of  fuel  the  metallur- 
gist and  miner  can  reduce  the  most  rebellious 
ores  and  compel  them  by  scientific  process  to 
yield  up  their  concealed  wealth."     Major  Morris 


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MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


178 


perhaps  had  in  mind  only  the  minerals  of  the  coast 
region,  but  later  developments  show  that  what 
he  said  is  almost  c([ually  applicable  to  the  in- 
terior. 

William  Ogilvic,  whose  researches  in  the  Yu- 
kon region  have  been  of  hardly  estimable  value, 
announced  in  1887  in  liis  report  to  lIic  Canadian 
government  the  discovery  of  coal  in  vairious 
places  along  the  head  waters  of  the  Yukon,  and 
following  tile  stream  down  tow^ards  the  boundary. 
A  thin  scam  of  coal  was  found  on  Lewis  River, 
about  sv-  miles  above  I'Mve  Finger  Rapids.  This 
seam  was  about  three  feet  thick,  and  at  that  stage 
of  the  water  was  eight  or  ten  feet  above  the  river. 
It  could  be  traced  for  several  hundred  yards 
along  the  bank.  Dr.  Dawson,  Mr.  Ogilvie's  com- 
panion, after  examinmg  the  seam,  describes  it  as 
lignite  coal, including, within  sixty  feet  of  the,.>ase 
of  the  bluff,  at  least  three  coal  beds  of  which  the 
lowest  is  about  three  feet  thick. 

In  the  drift  at  the  mouth  of  Coal  Creek,  five 
miles  below  Forty-mile  Creek,  Mr.  Ogilvie  pick- 
ed up  specimens  of  coal  much  weathered  and 
worn.  "I  made  inquiries  of  the  Indians  in  the 
neighborhood,"  he  reports,  "but  they  manifested 
surprise  at  my  showing  it  to  them  and  burning  it 


II 


■  I  ;' 


174 


KLONDIKE. 


I!? 


t   ■ 


before  them.  They  professed  entire  ignorance  of 
the  existence  of  any  such  stiiflf  up  the  creek  and 
said  they  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  it;  though 
they  must  have  seen  it  at  Belle  Isle,  near  .vhich 
place  there  is  some  on  a  creek  that  comes  in  from 
the  west."  It  appeared  on  inquir  •  that  an  old 
man  who  had  gone  up  the  country  in  the  faCl  had 
spent  part  of  the  summer  prospecting  on  the 
creek,  and  though  he  found  no  gold,  reported 
abundance  of  coal.  Later,  Mr.  Ogilvie  induced 
a  miner  named  James  McAuley  to  go  up  the 
creek  and  to  measure  the  coal  ledges  on  the  Brit- 
ish side  of  the  boundary,  so  far  as  possible.  Mc- 
Auley reported  that  one  of  the  ledges  measured 
five  feet,  and  one  seven  feet,  and  that  there  were 
others  possibly  on  the  American  side  of  the  boun- 
<lary  much  larger,  but  he  did  not  have  time  to  ex- 
amine these.  Tliere  seems  to  be  no  question, 
therefore,  alx)ut  the  existence  of  coal  in  large 
(juantities  in  the  neighboi^hood  of  Forty-mile 
Creek.  When  Mr.  Qn-ilvie  was  in  the  neighbor- 
iiood  again  in  1895  he  went  in  person  to  search 
for  the  coal  and  found  it  seven  miles  up  Coal 
Creek,  overlying  a  coarse  sandstone  and  beneath 
drift  clay  and  gravel.  The  seam  was  twelve  feet 
six  inches  thick,  and  seemed  to  Ogilvie  a  good 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


17S 


quality  of  lig-nite.  The  Canadian  sun^eyor  con- 
tinued his  investigations,  and  on  August  i8,  1896, 
refKDTted  from  Fort  Cudahy:  "It  is  now  certain 
that  coal  extends  along  the  valkv  of  the  Yukon 
from  Coal  Creek  for  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and  from 
Coal  Creek  up  to  Twelve-mile  Creek,  which  flows 
into  the  Yukon  about  thirty  miles  alx)vc  here. 
Tlie  latter  stretch  is  cut  off  from  the  river  by  sev- 
eral miles  of  hills,  as  it  is  about  six  miles  direct 
from  the  river  at  Coal  Creek  and  about  eighteen 
on  Twelve-mile  Creek.  This  is  the  stream  named 
Chanindu  by  Sclnvatka.  Tliere  is  a  seam  on  it 
about  six  feet,  as  reported  by  an  expert  who  went 
in  search  of  it.  I  found  drift  coal  on  the  south 
branch  of  Coal  Creek."  Tliree  weeks  later  Ogil- 
vic  reported  that  coal  had  been  found  in  abundance 
only  eight  mi!es  up  the  Chanindu  River,  where  a 
seam  over  six  feet  thick  had  been  discovered.  In 
his  report  of  November  6.  1896.  he  predicts  that 
in  the  course  of  a  year  coal  will  supersede  wood 
for  fuel  in  the  towns  and  villages,  although  min- 
ing interests  would  still  require  a  lot  of  fuel  where 
coal  cannot  \ye  taken. 

The  coal  deposits  in  the  interior  on  the  Ameri- 
can side  have  not  been  explored  with  anything 
like  the  system  pursuerl  l^y  Ogilvie.  but  there  is 


5^ 


Hi 

II 

n 


176 


KLONDIKE. 


no  question  about  their  existence.  As  far  back 
as  1885  Lieut.  Henry  T.  Allen,  U.  S.  Cavalry, 
in  his  military  reconaaisance  discovered  indica- 
tions of  coal  beds  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Koyu- 
kuk  River,  which  flows  into  the  Yukon  on  the 
north.  Lieut.  Allen  explored  this  river  from  its 
mouth  near  the  158th  degree  of  latitude  as  far 
up  as  the  151st  degree.  Along  the  coast,  how- 
ever, the  existence  of  coal  has  long  been  known. 
Captain  White  years  ago  was  struck  with  the 
coal  deposits  on  Cook  inlet.  "I  ha'/e  seen  coal 
veins,"  he  wrote,  "over  an  area  of  (orty  by  fifty 
miles,  so  thick  that  it  seems  one  vast  bed.  It 
has  excellent  steam  quality;  leaves  a  clear  white 
ash.  It  comes  out  in  cube  blocks,  bright  and 
clean.  It  does  not  coke.  The  quantity  seems  to 
be  unlimited."  Minor  W.  Bruce,  in  his  work  on 
Alaska  published  in  1895,  says  of  the  deposits  in 
the  Cook  Inlet  country  that  it  can  be  found  crop- 
ping out  on  the  beaches  and  along  many  of  the 
streams.  "Unga  island,"  he  says,  "has  three  dis- 
tinct veins  of  coal  extending  a  distance  of  two 
miles  upon  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  each  of 
them  being  several  feet  thick."  The  coal  found  in 
Alaska  is  bituminous,  and  cf  a  very  good  quality. 
Besides  these  deposits  coil  has  been  found  in 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


177 


Chicagofif  Island,  just  north  of  Sitka.  There 
are  indications  of  extensive  deposits  on  the 
head  waters  of  the  Chilkat  River,  Lituya  Bay  and 
Port  Molair  on  the  Bering  Sea  side.  The  mine 
at  Port  Molair  is  owned  by  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company,  and  is  of  excellent  quality.  Ex- 
tensive coal  fields  also  exist  av  Cape  Lisbiwne,  on 
the  Arctic  Ocean,  extending  for  thirty  or  forty 
miles  parallel  with  the  coast,  and  for  a  numiber 
of  miles  back  into  the  interior.  Strong  indica- 
tions of  petroleum  are  also  found  back  from  the 
coast  a  few  miles  in  the  Arctic  region.  There 
are  extensive  petroleum  fields,  it  is  believed,  on 
the  Pacific  coast  north  of  Yakutat  Bay,  and  it  is 
reported  that  an  extraordinary  lake  of  petroleum 
exhaustless  in  extent  lias  been  discovered  some 
distance  back  from  the  coast.  "Coal,"  said  Sum- 
ner, in  the  speech  already  quoted,  "seems  to  ex- 
ist all  alon*g  the  coast;  according  to  Golovin, 
^everywhere  in  greater  c  r  less  abundance.'  Traces 
of  it  are  reported  in  the  islands  of  the  Sitkan  ar- 
chipelago, and  this  is  extremely  probable,  for  it 
has  been  worked  successfully  in  Vancouver's 
Island  below.  It  is  also  found  on  the  Kenaiian 
Peninsula,  Alaska  (the  Peninsula),  the  island  of 
Unga,  belonging  to  the  Shumagin  group,  Unal- 


178 


KLONDIKE. 


aska,  and  far  to  the  north  at  Beaufort.  At  the 
latter  place  it  is  'slaty,  burning  with  a  pure  flame 
and  rapid  consumption,'  and  it  is  supposed  that 
there  are  extensive  beds  in  the  neighborhood 
better  in  quality.  The  natives  also  report  coal  in 
the  interior  on  the  Kwichpak  (the  Yukon)."  This 
was  spoken  thirty  years  ago.  Sumner  re- 
lied for  his  authority  largely  u}X)n  Russian  and 
German  writers  and  explorers,  whose  works  had 
never  been  translated  into  English,  but  it  is  in- 
structive to  notice  how  closely  his  observations  at 
second-hand  so  long  ago  coincide  with  the  re- 
ports of  recent  investigators. 

Dr.  Dall,  in  his  investigations  for  the  Geologi- 
cal Survey  in  1895,  along  the  southern  coast, 
confirmed  these  reports  of  abundance  of  coal  in 
that  region. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  Alaska  was  rich 
in  copper.  The  early  navigators  as  far  back  as 
Captain  Cook,  were  surprised  to  find  the  natives 
using  copper  tools,  rmd  copper  was  brought 
down  for  trading  purposes  by  the  Indians.  .Sum- 
ner calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  copper  had 
been  found  on  the  bunks  of  the  Copper  River, 
and  its  affluents  in  masses  sometimes  as  large  as 
forty  pounds.     It  is  presumably  from  this  neigh- 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


170 


borhoocl  that  the  copper  was  obtained  which  ar- 
rested the  attention  of  the  early  navigators.  Maj. 
Morris,  as  far  back  as  1878,  drew  attention  to  the 
existence  on  Karta  Bay,  Prince  of  Wales  Island, 
about  200  miles  from  Sitka,  of  a  very  valuable 
mine  of  bronze  coppor.  "I  have  seen  sacks  of 
ore,"  he  said,  "and  can  safely  pronounce  it  of  un- 
c'onmion  richness."  Major  Morris  predicted  that 
wncn  the  geological  resources  of  the  Copper  Riv- 
er region  were  defined  it  would  rival  Lake  Su- 
perior in  the  production  of  the  metal.  The  early 
Russians  told  fabulous  tales  of  the  existence  of 
both  gold  and  copper  in  this  locality.  ^Vhe  In- 
dians use  these  metals  in  their  ornaments.  Mr. 
Theodore  A.  Blake,  geologist  to  the  coast  survey 
party,  which  visited  Alaska  on  the  revenue  cut- 
ter Lincoln  in   1868.  \vrites: 

"It  has  long  been  known  that  large  masses  of 
native  copper  are  fou.ul  along  Copper  River. 
Some  of  these  masses  shown  to  me  by  His  Ex- 
cellency, Governor  I'oumhelm,  at  Sitka,  very 
closely  resembled  the  specimens  formerly  picked 
u])  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  From  all 
the  information  wliich  1  received  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  that  a  copper  bearing  region  similar  to 
that  of  Lake  Superior  txists  in  the  interior." 


Ill 


M 


I! 


180 


KLONDIKE. 


Lieut.  Allen,  in  his  rcconnaisance,  learned 
that  the  copper  deposits  from  which  he  river 
derived  its  name,  were  situated  on  its  eastern 
tributary  the  Chittyna.  Lieut.  Allen  remarks  on 
the  fact  that  pieces  of  pure  copper,  and  knives 
and  bullets  of  the  same  metal  had  been  brought 
down  to  the  coast  by  the  natives.  "Some  of 
the  specimens,"  he  says,  "are  supposed  to  be  as- 
sociated with  native  silver,  and  in  fact  I  have 
heard  of  some  brought  down  which  was  reported 
to  have  assayed  in  Boston  $80  a  ton  in  silver  and 
60  per  cent  of  copper."  A  chief  on  the  lower  riv- 
er had  bullets  of  pure  copper  in  his  possession, 
obtained,  he  said,  from  the  natives  over  the 
mountains." 

There  is  a  copper  bearing  vein  which  crosses 
the  Yukon  near  the  mouth  of  the  Klondike.  Mr. 
Ogilvie  says  of  it:  "It  does  not  appear  to  be  ex- 
tensive, but  there  are  several  small  veins  in  the 
vicinity,  and  it  may  be  that  a  commercially  val- 
uable deposit  may  be  found.  About  twenty-five 
miles  further  down  I  found  a  small  vein,  which 
indicates  that  this  copper  deposit  is  extensive." 
lie  also  quotes  an  expert  prospector  who  "has 
no  doubt  but  that  the  copper  around  Fort  Reli- 
ance will,  with  better  facilities,  yet  be  a  valuable 


y\  ' 


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MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


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feature  of  the  country.  He  showed  me  a  himp 
of  native  copper  some  Indians  said  they  found 
on  the  iiead  of  White  River,  but  could  not  or 
would  not  specify  where.'' 

Rich  finds  of  galena  have  been  made  on  Golo- 
vin  Bay,  about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Yukon  on  Ncurton  Sound.  A  mine 
is  being  worked  there.  Lieut.  Allen,  as  has  been 
noted,  speaks  of  silver  cairtained  in  the  copper  of 
lio  (  hittyna.  Silver  has  also  been  found  in  con- 
junction with  gold  and  copper  in  the  quartz 
ledges  along  the  southeastern  coast.  Ogilvie 
speaks  of  traces  of  silver  in  specimens  of  Galena 
obtained  on  Forty-mile  River.  These  spc.  'tnens 
were  found  by  accident,  and  Ogilvie  says  a  closer 
examination  of  the  localities  might  reveal  valu- 
able seams.  He  was  informed  in  i888  that  gold 
and  silver  bearing  specimens  of  quartz  had  been 
found  on  Sixty-mile  Creek. 

Iron  will  sometime  be  discovered  in  Alaska  in 
vast  quantities ;  so  the  scientists  say.  Large  iron 
fields  have  been  found  already.  Prof  Davidson, 
of  the  U.  S.  Coast  Survey,  it  is  reported,  while  at 
Chilkat  making  observations  of  the  eclipse  of 
August  7,  1869,  found  that  the  needle  to  his  com- 
pass pointed  constantly  wrong  and  soon  learned 


si 
ii 


188 


KLONUIKi:. 


tlic  fact  that  lie  was  near  a  mr/ii.itain  of  iron  some 
2000  feet  liig:Ii,  which  attracted  the  ma^j^iiet  wheire- 
cvtr  used,  fn  ni  it.--  I.-ase  to  its  suniinit,  and  a  fur- 
ther examination  showed  that  this  mountain  was 
onlv  one  of  a  rantje  similar  in  character  and  ex- 
teiuHng^  f'.illy  30  niilo;  ant  as  if  nature  had  an- 
ticipated its  uses  to  man  a  coal  mine  was  found 
near  by. 

Marble,  j^rajihite.  sulphur,  platiiumi  and  cin- 
nabar have  all  been  discovered  in  greater  or  less 
(|uantities  in  Alaska,  and  the  mineral  wealth  of 
the  country  has  only  ';een  touched 


CHAPTER  XI. 


!    1 


GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD. 

The  United  States  is  the  chief  gold  producing^ 
country  in  the  world.  \\q  have  held  the  lead 
ever  since  t'vic  discovt'ry  of  eold  in  Califi^rnia, 
with  the  exceptioti  of  1894,  when  we  fell  to  third 
place,  surrendering  first   place  to  Australia  and 


GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  THE  WORLD. 


18a 


the  second  to  Africa.  The  United  States  r<  cained 
in  1895  ^^^^  place  lost  in  1894,  its  output  oi  gold 
in  the  former  year  having  exceeded  that  of  i8<^4 
by  $7,110,000.  In  1895  the  gold  yiekl  of  the 
United  States  was  2,254,760  ounces  fine,  valued 
at  $46,610,000,  while  the  yield  of  Australasia  was 
2, 167,  r.  7  ounces,  valued  at.  $43,893,300.  'Vhv  lat- 
est reported  findings,  as  it  happens,  will  not  prop- 
erly be  credited  to  the  United  States,  but  with  the 
development  of  the  fields  actually  si  .uated  on  the 
Alaskan  side  of  the  boundary,  there  is  almost 
sure  to  be  such  an  ad-dition  to  the  product  of  the 
United  States  mines  as  to  place  them  easily  and 
permanently  at  the  head  of  the  gold-producing 
countries  of  '  .'  world,  '^hc  largest  prodiiction  of 
gold  in  the  United  States  for  any  single  >ear  was 
$65,000,000,  in  i'*^'53.  The  next  mos  productive 
years  were  1852  and  1854,  when  the  returns  were 
$60,000,000  for  each  year.  The  least  productive 
year  since  the  gold  discoveries  in  California  was 
1883,  when  only  $30,000,000  was  mined.  .Since 
then  the  advance  has  been  steady. 

The  gold  output  of  the  world  from  the  time 
of  the  discovery  of  America  to  the  close  of  the 
fiscal  year  1895  has  been  estimated  at  $8,781,858,- 
700.    The  California  gold  field  since  their  d'scov- 


1 


,) 


184  KLONDIKE. 

ery  in  1849  ^^^^^  alone  yielded  $2,035,4 i6,cx)0. 

The  Australian  mines  up  to  1895  had  yielded 
$1,655,713,000,  and  the  African  mines  $211,632,- 
990.  The  total  production  of  the  world  in  liie  iast 
four  years  has  been: 

1893 $157,494,800 

1894 181,507,800 

1895 200,2 1 5.700 

1896  (estimated)  2c6,ooo,ooo 

The  Director  of  the  Mint  estimates  the  produc- 
tion of  the  world  for  1S97  at  $240,ooo,(XX).  I'or 
three  years  the  figures  lor  the  producing  coun- 
tries were: 

1893.  1894.  1895. 

U.  S $35,955,000  $39,500,000  $46,610,000 

Australasia  .  35,()88,6oo  41,760,800  44,798,300 
Russia  ....  27,808.200  24,133,400  28,894.400 
Canada  ....  927,200  1,042,100  i,9io,c)oo 
Africa  28,943.500    40,271,000    44,554,900 

Mr.  Preston  makes  the  following  estimates  for 
1896  and  1897: 

1896.  1897.         Increase. 

U.  S $53,ooo,o<xi  $60,000,000  $7,000,000 

Australasia   .   46,250,000     52.(XK),ooo     5.75o,o(X) 

Africa   44.000,000     56,0(X).ooo  i2.ooo.O(X) 

Canada  2.8io.(xx)     lo.ooo.txx)     7.200.(XX) 

Russia 22,000,000    25,000,(300     3,000,000 


i! 


r 


CHAPTER  XII. 


CHARAC!  ERISTICS    OF   OUR    NORTH- 
WESTERN POSSESSIONS. 

I3v  JOHN  V.   PRATT. 

To  those  who  are  faniihar  with  the  story  of  the 
northwestern  (Miuntry  the  rich  discoveries  of  goUl 
in  the  Yukon  Valley  are  no  surprise.  They  form 
a  rhapter  in  the  j^old  findings  of  that  region 
which  hia  been  xvfiting  for  many  years.  Just  be- 
fore tl  e  war  there  v\as  widespread  excitement 
over  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Caribou  dis- 
trict of  P»ritish  (\)lumbia,  and  the  diggings  there 
for  a  time  were  very  rich.  The  craze  resulted  in 
much  hardship  and  many  deaths.  Later,  subse- 
quent to  the  jMirchase  of  Alaska,  gold  was  found 
in  c(  nsiderable  (piantilies  in  the  Cassiar  district, 
farther  to  the  northwest  in  British  America. 

The  Cassiar  Mduntains  are  situated  between 
the  6oth  and  65th  degrees  of  north  latitude,  at 
the  headwaters  of  the  Telly  River.  They  are 
reached  by  way  of  the  Stikine  River,  the  outlet  of 
which  is  near  Fort  Wrangell.     These  diggings 

186 


^:i(: 


IHti 


KLONDlivK. 


i   « 


h 


in 


!  S:i  I 


are  still  carried  on,  and  they  have  yielded  much 
gold.  There  are  several  (juartz  lodes  in  the  Cas- 
siar  district  which  are  rich,  but  hardly  rich 
enough  to  mine  profitably  with  the  present  inade- 
quate facilities  for  reaching  them  and  for  trans- 
porting mac'innery.  During  high  water  steam- 
boats can  run  well  up  the  river,  leaving  a  dis- 
tance of  forty  miles  between  Telegraph  Creek 
and  Dease  Lake  to  be  traveled  by  pack  trains. 
The  Cassiar  diggings  are  far  less  accessible  than 
the  new  gold  fields. 

Now,  in  this  same  trend  or  general  direction, 
as  if  in  contiiuiation  of  the  line  r^mning  north- 
west from  Caribou  through  the  Cassiar  range, 
come  the  diggings  near  the  place  wliiere  the  Yu- 
kon River  crosses  the  bountlary  betMaen  Alaska 
and  liritish  North  America,  and  we  arc  bound  to 
suppose  that  the  lode  runs  still  farther  along  t(>- 
ward  the  northwest  into  the  country-  which  is  not 
yet  prospecteil  at  all. 

Although  the  Klondike  is  on  the  Cisnadiian  siife 
of  the  boundary,  then  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  great  bulk  of  ihe  g<  i  territory  is  west  of  the 
boundary  on  the  American  side.  This  is  to  be 
deduced  from  the  pecidiar  locations  of  t\w 
streams  from  along  which  gold  has  th«s  far  bee« 


■Si 


OtR  NoRlHWKSlKkN  l-OSJjKSSIONS. 


187 


taken.  Sixty  Mile  Creek  and  Forty  Mile  Creek 
lie  largely  in  United  States  territory.  l>oth  How 
into  the  Yukon  toward  the  east,  r.ircli  Creek 
flovv.s  into  the  Yukon  toward  the  north  and  the 
Tenanah  River  toward  the  northwest.  The  Su- 
shitna  Hows  toward  tlie  south  into  Cook's  Inlet, 
on  the  southern  coast,  where  gold  has  been  found. 
The  headwaters  of  all  these  gold-bearing  streams 
llowing  in  iHtferent  directions  are  thus  seen  to  be 
in  the  same  country,  about  loo  miles  west  of  the 
boundary  and  s«Hith  of  the  Yukon.  This  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  grent  mother  lode  is  proi)ably 
within  tlu"  United  States  and  that  the  more  per- 
■nnent  diggings  will  be  found  in  United  States 
territ{jry  centering  about  a  spot  not  ux>  miles 
west  of  the  boundary. 

TlHf  diggings  arouml  K!«>ndike,  therefore,  are 
not  in  the  middle  of  the  richest  gold  territory, 
but  are  rather  on  the  northeast  etlge.  (K)ld  has 
been  found  as  far  west  as  Cook's  Inlet  on  the 
southern  coast,  between  the  150th  and  i52d  de- 
grees west  longiKidc.  and  it  has  been  found  as  far 
cast  as  t'ne  i-jHth  degree.  There  is  a  gold-bear- 
irv.'  Tt^  of  between  forty  thousand  and  fifty  thou- 
-ijuare  miles,  and  the  best  part  of  it  is  on 
ilu   U.iited  Staies  side  of  the  boundary. 


A^ 


m 


188 


KLONDIKE. 


m 


m 


Of  course,  our  actual  information  is  exceeding- 
ly limited.  Perhaps  vvc  know  less  about  the 
Alaskan  Territory  than  about  any  other  territory 
of  equal  size  on  the  continent.  The  Yukon  River 
has  been  explored  from  its  mouth  to  the  region 
of  the  gold  diggings,  and  the  trail  of  the  miners 
from  Chilkoot  Pass  to  the  diggings  has  given 
us  a  knowledge  of  that  region;  we  know  the 
mouths  of  the  streams  as  they  flow  into  the  Yu- 
kon; but  aside  from  these  we  have  learned  very 
little.  Travelers  and  prospectors  have  found  out 
more  or  less  by  interviewing  the  Indians,  who 
have  ?  general  idea  of  direction  and  distance, 
but  this  knowledge  is  not  exact.  Even  our  most 
elaborate  maps  of  Alaska  depend  upon  miners' 
plotiings  and  not  upon  official  surveys  for  the  lo- 
cati')n  of  the  creeks  and  rivers  in  the  gold  region. 
What  other  information  we  have  of  the  interior 
has  been  accjuired  largely  from  j^rosnectors  and 
on  the  British  side  of  the  boundary  from  Can- 
adian explorers  We  know  something  about  the 
streams  and  the  outlets,  but  we  have  not  discov- 
ered their  sources.  The  hill  country  is  practicall}) 
imknown,  and  there  may  be  large  streams  con- 
cerning which  we  liave  no  information.  There  is 
an  immer.se  stretch  of  territory  of  perhaps  250,- 


Interior  Winter  House  Coast  Indian.     Accomniodating 

a  dozen  families. 


P 


Group  of  Miners,  Trading  Co.'s  store. 


m 


r! 


OUR  NORTHWKSTERN  I»OSSESSIONS. 


189 


ooo  square  miles  of  which  we  are  practically  ig- 
norant. 

We  are  about  as  badly  off  with  regard  to  the 
coast  line.  The  southern  coast  we  know  fairly 
well  in  a  gene  ral  way,  but  there  has  never  been 
an  official  survey  beyond  Sitka.  Even  the  maps 
of  the  Aleutian  Islands  are  inherited  from  Russia, 
and  there  has  never  been  anything  like  a  survey 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River.  It  would  be 
of  great  value,  now,  if  we  knew  whether  there 
was  a  channel  through  which  the  Yukon  could  be 
reached  from  IJering  Sea  by  deep  water  ships. 
We  are  aware  now  that  shoals  extend  out  for 
twenty-five  miles,  apparently  stretching  all  the 
way  across  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon,  but  there 
has  never  been  any  survey  to  discover  whetiier 
there  might  not  be  a  passage  through.  All  ships 
now,  owing  to  lack  of  knowledge  concerning 
these  shoals,  are  compelled  to  avoid  them  alto- 
gether by  going  to  St.  Michael,  thirty  miles  north 
of  the  mouth  of  the  river,  there  to  meet  the  river 
boats  which  are  obliged,  on  that  account,  to  make 
the  dangerous  trip  outside  on  the  ocean.  If  sea- 
going ships  could  be  brought  into  the  mouth  of 
the  Yukon  they  might  proceed  up  the  river  at 
least  to  as  great  a  distance  as  that  between  New 


'} 


190 


KLONDIKE. 


i 


Orleans  and  the  mouth  of  tiie  Mississippi  and 
possibly  they  cmiUl  continue  the  journey  for  sev- 
eral hundred  miles.  There  should  be  an  early 
appropriation  for  a  survey  of  the  m(3Uth  of  the 
Yukon.  There  should  also  be  a  survey  to  dis- 
cover whether  some  of  the  portages  between  the 
Yukon  at  different  points  and  l»ering  Sea  might 
not  be  available  for  general  traffic.  At  one  place 
not  far  from  St.  Michael  Island  the  Yukon  in  its 
windings  approaches  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
coast. 

It  is  peculiar  that  the  two  entiances  to  the 
gold  country  should  be,  one  through  the  head  of 
the  Yukon  River,  the  oiher  through  the  mouth. 
It  is  2000  miles  from  Sitka  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Yukon,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  to  the 
Klondike  is  about  the  same  distance,  for  the 
river  is  very  winding  throughout  its  course.  The 
route  by  sea,  which  takes  the  traveler  through 
Unimak  Pass,  separating  two  of  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands, to  St.  Michael,  and  thence  by  river  boat  to 
his  destination,  will  be  used  largely  for  getting 
supplies  into  the  gold  country  ;  but  it  is  a  long 
journey,  and  steamers  going  tip  the  Yukon  have 
to  wait  until  the  ice  leaves  the  river. 

For  miners  the  trails  leading  up  from  the  head- 


OUR  NORTH WKSTKRN  IH^SSKSSIONS. 


I'M 


waters  of  Lynn  Canal  will  hv  more  convenient. 
There  are  four  entrances  into  the  gold  country 
from  the  coast  in  this  direction,  one  hy  the  TaUu 
River,  just  below  Juneau,  the  others  by  the 
White  Pass,  the  Chilkoot  Pass  an<l  the  C  hilkat 
Pass.  Of  these  only  two,  the  Chilkoot  l*ass  and 
the  White  Pass,  are  really  feasible,  and  the  Chil- 
koot Pass  is  so  much  the  better  of  the  two  that 
it  is  the  route  almost  exclusively  used.  It  is  su- 
perior to  the  others  because  it  has  a  shorter  dis- 
tance to  travel  and  is  not  so  rugged.  White 
Pass  is  rugged  throughout  its  entire  length, 
and  has  not  been  used  by  travelers  until 
recently.  It  is  just  above  Skaguay  Inlet.  The 
route  by  the  Taku  River  is  very  rough  and  re- 
(juires  many  mil-es  of  packing.  The  Chilkat 
route  is  what  is  known  as  jack  Dalton's  trail. 
Dalton  is  well  known  in  all  that  country.  Me  was 
a  scout  for  (ilave.  who  was  the  fir.>t  white  man 
to  explore  the  region,  and  for  the  last  few  sum- 
mers he  has  been  engaged  in  carrying  whisky 
and  various  supplies  up  into  the  mining  camps. 
H-e  fits  out  at  Juneau,  with  his  nine  horses,  a 
white  man  and  two  Indians,  crosses  to  the  Chil- 
kat Inlet,  and  then  strikes  off  into  the  wilderness 
toward  the  headwaters  of  the  White  River.     No- 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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KLONDIKE. 


m 


body  else  knew  until  recently  exactly  what  route 
he  took,  as  he  would  not  tell. 

Lynn  Canal,  as  it  approaches  its  head,  divides 
into  two  branches,  Chilkat  Inlet  on  the  west  and 
Chilkoot  Inlet  on  the  east.  Chilkoot  Inlet  in 
turn  has  a  branch  known  as  Dyea  Inlet,  and  at 
the  head  of  Dyea  Inlet  is  a  small  Indian  village 
and  a  store  known  as  Healey's  store.  In  1894 
Healey's  store  was  the  only  house  in  the  place. 
It  acquires  its  importance  because  it  is  the  head 
of  navigation  and  the  last  base  of  supplies  for 
miners  before  striking  o&  into  the  trail  for  the 
gold  country. 

If  a  railroad  is  ever  constructed  into  the  gold 
fields  it  will  probably  be  through  Chilkoot  Pass. 

The  natives  of  the  gold  country  in  the  interior 
are  known  as  Stick  Indians.  "Stick"  is  the  Chi- 
nook expression  for  wood,  and  the  Stick  Indian 
consequently  is  the  Indian  of  the  interior  or  for- 
est. He  is  quite  distinct  from  the  Chilkat  Indian 
on  the  coast.  He  is  short  of  stature,  but  stout, 
his  diminutiveness  being  due  to  the  hardships 
and  privations  which  he  has  been  compelled  to 
suffer  always.  But  physically  he  is  very  strong. 
He  can  carry  on  his  back  all  day  a  pack  which 
many  men  would  find  it  uncomfortable  to  lift. 


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OUR  NORTHWESTERN  POSSESSIONS. 


193 


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Thtre  are  marked  differences  between  the 
Chilkats  and  the  Sticks.  The  Chilkats  spend 
most  of  their  time  on  the  streams  and  use  canoes 
almost  exclusively.  They  do  very  litde  tramp- 
ing. They  are  a  fine  race,  hardy  and  well 
formed.  The  Sticks  never  use  canoes.  Some  of 
them  have  little  dug-outs  in  the  streams  in  their 
own  country,  but  when  they  come  down  to  the 
coast,  as  they  come  occasionally  now,  they  are 
quite  lost. 

The  Stick  Indians  are  centered  around  the 
streams  of  Alaska,  and  have  to  keep  pretty  near 
to  the  main  stream  in  order  to  get  their  food. 
Until  very  recently  they  have  never  dared  to 
come  down  below  the  Chilkoot  Pass,  so  complete- 
ly were  they  terrorized  by  the  Chilkat  Indians. 
The  Chilkats  have  had  absolute  control  of  the 
country  along  the  coast,  so  much  so  that  they 
were  able  to  collect  toll  from  the  miners  who 
first  went  through  the  Chilkoot  Pass.  When  the 
Russians  were  in  possession  of  Alaska  the 
Chilkats  were  a  kind  of  middlemen  between  tb** 
Russian  traders  and  the  Indians  of  the  interior. 
Indeed,  these  peculiar  relations  seem  to  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  drawing  of  the  boun- 
dary line  between  British  America  and  Russian 
18 


T 


194 


KLONDIKE. 


America.  The  idea  of  Russia  was  to  continue 
the  Hne  of  demarkation  between  the  trading  set- 
tlements of  the  coast  and  the  Indian  settlements 
of  the  interior,  so  that  this  line  is  really  not  a 
geographical  line,  but  is  intended  rather  to  mark 
the  extent  of  the  control  of  the  Indians  of  the 
coast;  that  is,  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain 
ranges  extending  from  Portland  Canal  north  to 
Mount  St.  Elias,  beyond  which  the  Sticks  never 
dared  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


LAWS  GOVERNING  THE  LOCATION 
OF  CLAIMS. 

It  is  important  to  know  something  about  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  Canada  which 
govern  the  patenting  of  mineral  lands  and  which 
must  be  observed  in  locating  claims.  The  pub- 
lic land  laws  of  the  United  States  do  not  apply 
to  Alaska,  and  neither  do  the  coal  land  regula- 
tions, which  are  distinct  from  the  mineral  regu- 
lations.   The  Territory  of  Alaska  is  expressly  ex- 


T 


LAWS  GOVKKNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.    195 


the 

fhich 
rhich 
|pub- 

ipply 
;ula- 
•egu- 

|y  ^^' 


eluded  from  the  operations  of  the  pubHc  land 
and  coai  land  laws  by  provisions  of  the  laws 
themselves.  Mineral  lands  have  been  patented 
in  Alaska  since  1884.  Hon.  Binger  Hermann, 
Commissioner  of  the  United  States  General 
Land  Office,  has  authorized  the  statement  that 
rhe  following  laws  are  applicable  to  the  Terri- 
tory • 

First — The  mineral  land  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

Second — Town-site  laws,  which  provide  for  the 
incorporation  of  town  sites  and  acquirement  of 
title  thereto  from  the  United  States  Governm'Mit 
by  the  town-site  trustees. 

Third — The  laws  providing  for  trade  and  man- 
ufactures, giving  each  qualified  person  160  acres 
of  land  in  a  square  and  compact  form. 

The  act  approved  May  17,  1884,  providing  a 
civil  government  for  Alaska,  has  this  language 
as  to  mines  and  mining  privileges: 

'The  laws  of  the  United  States  relating  to 
mining  claims  and  rights  incidental  thereto  shall, 
on  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  be  in  full 
force  and  effect  in  said  district  of  Alaska,  sub- 
ject to  such  regulations  as  may  be  made  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  approved  by  the 
President." 


rr 


196 


KLONDIKE. 


"Parties  who  have  located  mines  or  mining 
privileges  therein,  under  the  United  States  laws 
applicable  to  the  public  domain,  or  have  occupied 
or  improved  or  exercised  acts  of  ownership  over 
such  claims,  shall  not  be  disturbed  therein,  but 
shall  be  allowed  to  perfect  title  by  payment  so 
pro\ided  for." 

There  is  still  more  general  authority.  Without 
the  special  authority,  the  act  of  July  4,  1866, 
says:  "All  valuable  mineral  deposits  in  lands  be- 
longing to  the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and 
imsurveyed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  free  and 
open  to  exploration  and  purchase,  and  lands  in 
which  these  are  found  to  occupation  and  pur- 
chase by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  by 
those  who  have  declared  an  intention  to  become 
such,  under  the  rules  prescribed  by  law  and  ac- 
cording to  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners  in  the 
several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are 
applicable  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of 
the  United  States." 

Under  United  States  laws  only  those  who  are 
citizens  or  who  have  declared  intention  to  be- 
come citizens  may  finally  patent  claims.  There 
are  no  "free  miners."  The  government  cannot 
give  the  right  to  mine  except  in  public  lands. 


il 


LAWS  GOVERNING  LOCATION  OF  CLAIMS.   197 


Iff'" 


and  these  must  contain  valuable  mineral  depos- 
its. A  claim  may  not  exceed  beyond  1500  feet 
along  a  vein  or  300  feet  on  each  side  of  the  mid- 
dle of  the  vein.  A  person  may  locate  a  claim 
through  an  agent;  $100  worth  of  work  must  be 
done  each  year.  Local  government  prevails  in 
the  various  mining  districts  of  the  United  States, 
each  district  being  free  to  manage  its  own  affairs 
so  long  as  it  does  not  do  anything  inconsistent 
with  the  national  laws. 

Mining  operations  on  the  Klondike  on  the 
British  side  of  the  boundary  are  subject,  not  to 
the  regulations  of  the  Province  of  British  Col- 
umbia, but  to  the  general  mining  laws  of  the 
Dominion  of  Canada. 

As  soon  as  the  mounted  police  force  has  been 
raised  to  100  men  from  the  20  men  now  keeping 
order  in  the  country,  it  will  be  considered  safe  to 
pronnilgate  the  new  regulations  for  placer  gold 
mining.  These  provide  that  every  alternate 
claim  is  to  be  reserved  by  the  crown  for  the  pub- 
lic benefit,  and  that  the  royalty  to  the  crown  is  to 
be  10  per  cent,  on  the  yield  up  to  $500  a  month 
and  20  per  cent,  over  $500  a  month. 

A  difficulty  with  respect  to  the  alternate 
claims    is    that    the    placer  territory  is  already 


1^8 


II  r: 


KLONDIKE. 


stak-ed  solid  by  prospectors,  so  far  as  they  have 
gone.  Turning-  out  the  prospectors  on  every  al- 
ternate claim  is  not  likely  to  prove  a  pleasant  pro- 
ceeding. Many  have  staked  without  registering 
and  those  only  w'ho  have  registered  are  safe.  The 
registering  has  been  raised  from  $5  to  $15  in  each 
case,  with  m  annual  tax  of  $100. 

The  miners'  tax  applies  to  ail  alike,  and  will  not 
be  levied  so  as  to  discriminate  against  Americans. 
It  will  be  almost  impossible  to  collect  more  than 
a  small  proportion.  As  regards  its  efifects  on  the 
Canadian  miners,  it  will  undoubtedly  drive  the 
majority  of  them,  as  soon  as  they  have  made  their 
pile,  to  take  it  to  the  United  Stat-es  to  evade  full 
assessment.  How  much  of  the  royalties  will  ever 
find  their  way  to  Canada  is  a  question. 

The  Canadian  Government,  on  August  14, 
1897,  promulgated  the  following  regulations  gov- 
erning placer  mining  on  the  Yukon  River  as  ap- 
proved by  order  in  council  of  May  21,  1897,  and 
amended  August  7: 

INTERPRETATION. 


I: 


"Bar  diggings"  shall  mean  any  part  of  a  river 
over  which  the  water  extends  when  the  water  is 


LAWS   GOVERNING   CLAIMS. 


199 


Wi' 


in  its  flooded  state  and  which  is  not  covered  at 
low  water. 

Mines  on  benches  shall  be  known  as  "bench 
diggings,"  and  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  defining 
the  size  of  such  claims,  be  excepted  from  dry  dig- 
gings. 

"Dry  diggings''  shall  mean  any  mine  over 
which  a  river  never  extends. 

"Miner"  sha'Il  mean  a  male  or  female  over  the 
age  of  18,  but  not  under  tiiat  age. 

"Claim"  shall  mean  the  personal  right  of  prop- 
erty in  a  placer  mine  or  diggings  during  the  time 
for  which  the  grant  of  such  mine  or  diggings  is 
made. 

"Legal  post"  shall  mean  a  stake  standing  not 
less  than  four  feet  above  the  ground  and  squared 
on  four  sides  for  at  least  one  foot  from  the  top. 
Both  sides  so  squared  shall  measure  at  least  four 
inches  across  th-e  face.  It  shall  also  mean  any 
stump  or  tree  cut  off  and  squared  or  faced  to  the 
above  height  and  size. 

"Close  season"  shall  mean  the  period  of  the 
year  during  which  placer  mining  is  generally  sus- 
pended, the  period  to  be  fixed  by  the  gold  com- 
missioner in  whose  district  the  claim  is  situated. 


ii  M  '1 


'Locality' 


shall  mean  the   territory  along  a 


200 


KLONDIKE. 


river  (tributary  of  the  Yukon  River)  and  its  afflu- 
ents. 

"Mineral"  shall  include  all  minerals  whatsoever 
other  than  coal. 

NATURE  AND  SIZE  OF  CLAIMS. 


(i)  "Bar  diggings,"  a  strip  of  land  lOO  icet 
wldii  at  high-water  mark  and  thence  extending 
into  the  river  to  its  lowest  water  level. 

(2)  The  sides  of  a  claim  for  bar  diggings  shall 
be  two  parallel  lines  run  as  nearly  as  possible  at 
right  angles  to  the  stream  and  shall  be  marked  by 
four  legal  posts,  one  at  each  end  of  the  claim  at 
or  about  high-water  mark ;  also,  one  at  each  end 
of  the  claim  at  or  about  the  edge  of  the  water. 
One  of  the  posts  at  high-water  mark  shall  be  legi- 
bly marked  with  the  name  of  the  miner  and  the 
date  upon  whick  the  claim  was  staked. 

(3)  Dry  diggings  shall  be  100  feet  square  and 
shall  have  placed  at  each  of  its  four  corners  a  le- 
gal post,  upon  one  of  which  shall  be  legibly 
marked  the  name  of  the  miner  and  the  date  upon 
which  the  claim  was  slaked. 

(4)  Creek  and  river  claims  shall  be  100  feet 
long,  measured  in  the  direction  of  the  general 


*rw 


LAWS   GOVERNING   CLAIMS. 


201 


course  of  the  stream,  and  shall  extencT  in  width 
from  base  to  base  c-  'he  hill  or  bench  on  each 
side;  but  when  the  hilis  or  benches  are  less  tlian 
ICG  feet  apart,  th;  claim  may  b^  lOo  feet  in  depth. 
The  sides  of  a  ciaim  shal'  be  two  parallel  lines 
run  as  nearly  as  poasil^le  at  right  angles  to  the 
stream.  The  sides  shall  be  marked  with  legal 
posts  at  or  about  th-e  edge  of  the  water  and  at  the 
rear  boimdaries  of  the  claim.  One  of  the  legal 
posts  at  the  stream  sliall  be  legibly  marked  with 
the  name  of  the  miner  and  the  date  upon  which 
the  claim  was  staked. 

(5)  A  bench  claim  shall  be  100  feet  square,  and 
shall  have  placed  at  each  of  its  four  corners  a  le- 
gal post,  upon  which  shall  be  legibly  marked  the 
name  of  the  miner  and  the  date  upon  whic'h  the 
claim  was  staked. 

(6)  Entry  shall  only  be  granted  for  alternate 
claims,  the  other  alternate  claims  being  reserved 
for  the  Crown,  to  be  disposed  of  at  public  auction 
or  in  such  manner  as  may  be  decided  by  the  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior. 

The  penalty  for  trespassing  upon  a  claim  re- 
served for  the  Crown  shall  be  immediate  cancella- 
tion by  the  gold  Commissioner  of  any  entry  or  en- 
tries which  the  person  trespassing  may  have  ob- 


202 


KLONDIivE. 


tained,  whetlier  by  original  entry  or  purchase,  for 
a  mining  claim,  and  the  refusal  by  the  gold  com- 
missioner of  the  acceptance  of  any  application 
which  the  person  trespassing  may  at  any  time 
make  for  a  claim.  In  addition  to  such  penalty, 
the  mounted  police,  upon  a  requisition  -from  the 
gold  conmiissioner  to  that  effect,  shall  take  the 
necessary  steps  to  eject  the  trespasser. 

(7)  In  defining  the  size  of  claims,  they  shall  be 
measured  horizontally,  irrespective  of  inequalities 
on  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

(8)  If  any  person  or  persons  shall  discover  a 
new  mine  and  such  discovery  shall  be  established 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  gold  commissioner,  a 
creek  and  river  claim  200  feet  in  length  may  be 
granted. 

A  new  stratum  of  auriferous  earth  or  gravel  sit- 
uated in  a  locality  where  the  claims  are  aban- 
doned shall,  for  this  purpose,  be  deemed  a  new 
mine,  although  the  same  locality  shall  have  been 
previously  worked  at  a  different  level. 

A  claim  shall  be  recorded  with  the  gold  com- 
missioner in  whos-e  district  it  is  situated  within 
three  days  after  the  location  thereof  if  it  is  located 
within  ten  miles  of  the  commissioner's  office.  One 
extra  day  shall  be  allowed  for  making  such  record 
for  every  additional  ten  miles  or  fraction  thci  3of. 


LAWS   GOVERNING   CLAIMS. 


e03 


In  the  "vent  of  the  alisence  of  the  gold  com- 
missioner from  his  office,  entry  for  a  claim  may 
be  grant'.d  by  any  person  whom  he  may  appoint 
to  perform  his  duties  in  his  absence. 

Entry  shall  not  \ys  granted  for  a  claim  which 
has  not  been  staked  l)y  the  applicant  in  person  in 
the  manner  specified  in  these  regulations. 

An  entry  -fee  of  $15  shall  be  charged  the  first 
year  and  an  annual  fee  of  $15  for  -each  of  the  fol- 
lowing years.  This  provision  shall  apply  to  loca- 
tions for  which  entries  have  already  been  granted. 

A  royalty  of  ten  per  cent,  on  the  gold  mined 
shall  be  levied  and  collected  by  officers  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose,  provided  the  amount  so 
mined  and  taken  from  a  single  claim  does  not  ex- 
ceed $500  per  week.  In  case  the  amount  mined 
and  taken  from  any  single  claim  exceeds  $500  per 
week,  there  sha^  be  levied  and  collected  a  royalty 
of  ten  per  cent,  upon  the  amount  so  taken  out  up 
to  $500,  and  upon  the  excess,  or  amount  taken 
from  any  single  clahii  over  $500  per  week,  there 
shall  be  levied  and  collected  a  royalty  of  twenty 
per  cent. 

Default  in  payment  of  such  royalty,  if  contin- 
ued for  ten  days  after  notice  has  been  posted  upon 
the  claim  in  respect  of  which  it  is  demanded  or  in 


204 


KLONDIKE. 


the  vicinity  of  such  claim  by  the  gold  commis- 
sioner or  his  agent,  shall  be  followed  by  canceflla- 
tion  of  the  claim.  Any  attempt  to  defraud  the 
Crown  by  withholding  any  part  of  the  revenue 
thus  provided  for,  by  making  false  statements  of 
the  amount  taken  out,  shall  be  punished  by  can- 
cellation of  the  claim  in  respect  of  which  fraud  or 
false  statements  have  been  committed  or  made. 
In  respect  of  the  facts  as  to  such  fraud  or  false 
statements  or  nonpayment  of  royalty,  the  decision 
of  the  gold  commissioner  shal'l  be  final. 

After  the  recording  of  a  claim,  the  removal  of 
any  post  by  the  holder  thereof  or  by  any  person 
acting  in  his  behalf  for  the  purpose  of  changing 
the  boundaries  of  his  claim  shall  act  as  a  forfeiture 
of  the  claim. 

The  entry  of  every  holder  of  a  grant  for  placer 
mining  must  be  renewed  and  his  receipt  relin- 
quished and  replaced  every  year,  the  entry  fee 
being  paid  each  time. 

No  miner  shall  receive  a  grant  of  more  than 
one  mining  claim  in  the  same  locality,  but  the 
same  miner  may  hold  any  number  of  claims  by 
purchase  and  any  number  of  miners  may  unite 
to  work  their  claims  in  common  upon  such  terms 
as  they  may  arrange,  provided  such  agreement  be 


LAWS   GOVERNING  CLAIMS. 


205 


registered  with  the  gold  commissioner  and  a  fee 
of  $5  paid  for  each  registration. 

Any  miner  or  miners  may  sell,  mortgage,  or 
dispose  of  his  or  their  claims,  provided  such  dis- 
posal be  registered  with,  and  a  fee  of  $2  paid  to, 
the  gold  commissioner. 

Every  miner  shall,  during  the  continuance  of 
his  grant,  have  tlie  exclusive  right  of  entry  upon 
his  own  claim  for  the  miner-like  working  thereof 
and  the  construction  of  a  residence  thereon,  and 
shall  be  entitJed  exclusively  to  all  the  proceeds 
realized  th-erefrom,  upon  VA'tiich,  however,  the 
royalty  prescribed  by  clause  14  of  these  regula- 
tions shall  be  payable,  but  he  shall  have  no  sur- 
face rights  therein;  and  the  gold  commissioner 
may  grant  to  the  holders  of  adjacent  claims  such 
nght  of  entry  tliereon  as  may  be  absolutely  neces- 
•sary  for  the  working  of  their  claims  upon  such 
terms  as  may  to  him  seem  reasonable.  He  may 
also  grant  permits  to  miners  to  cut  timber  thereon 
for  their  own  use  upon  payment  of  the  dues  pre- 
scribed by  th-e  regulations  in  that  behalf. 

Every  miner  shall  be  entitled  to  the  use  of  so 
much  of  the  water  naturally  flowing  through  or 
past  his  claim  and  not  already  lawfully  appropri- 
ated as  shall,  in  the  opinion  of  the  gold  commis- 


f 


206 


klo:ndike 


sioner,  be  necessary  for  the  due  working-  thereof, 
and  shall  be  entitled  to  drain  his  own  claim  frc. 
of  charge. 

A  claim  shall  be  deemed  to  be  abandoned  and 
open  to  occupation  and  entry  Ijy  any  p-erson 
when  the  same  shall  have  remained  unworked  on 
working  days  by  the  grantee  thereof  or  by  some 
person  on  his  behalf  for  the  space  of  seventy-two 
hours,  unless  sickness  or  other  reasonable  cause 
be  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  gold  commis- 
sioner or  unless  the  grantee  is  absent  on  leave 
given  by  the  commissioner,  and  the  gold  commis- 
sioner, upon  obtaining  evidence  satisfactory  to 
himself  that  this  provision  is  not  being  compli-ed 
with,  may  cancel  the  entry  given  for  a  claim. 

If  the  land  upon  which  a  claim  has  been  located 
is  not  the  property  of  die  Crown  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  the  person  who  applied  for  entry  to  fur- 
nish proof  that  he  has  acquired  from  the  ow  "  of 
the  land  the  surface  rights  before  entry  can  l)e 


granted. 


If  the  occupier  of  the  land  has  not  received  a 
patent  therefor,  the  purchase  money  of  the  surface 
rights  must  be  paid  to  the  Crown,  and  a  patent  of 
the  surface  rights  will  issue  to  the  party  who  ac- 
quired the  mining  rights.    The  money  so  collect- 


LAWS   GOVERNING   CLAIMS. 


207 


ed  will  either  be  refunded  to  the  occupier  of  the 
land  when  he  is  entitled  to  a  patent  tlierefor  or 
will  be  credited  to  him  on  account  of  payment  for 
land. 

When  the  party  obtaining  the  minins:  rijrhts  to 
lands  cannot  make  an  arrangement  with  the  cnvn- 
er  or  his  agent  or  the  occupant  thereof  for  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  surface  rights,  it  shati  be  lawful 
for  him  to  give  notice  to  the  owner  or  his  agent 
or  the  occupier  to  appcint  an  arbitrator  to  act 
with  another  arbitrator  named  by  hirn,  in  order  to 
award  the  amount  of  compensation  to  which  the 
owner  or  occupant  shall  be  entitled.  Tlie  notice 
mentioned  in  this  section  shall  be  according  to  a 
form  to  be  obtained  upon  application  from  the 
gold  commissioner  for  the  district  in  which  the 
lands  in  question  lie,  and  shall,  when  practicable, 
be  personally  served  on  such  owner,  or  his  agent 
if  known,  or  occupant;  and  after  reasonable  ef- 
forts have  been  made  to  effect  personal  5er\'ice, 
without  success,  then  such  notice  shall  be  served 
by  leaving  it  at,  or  sending  by  registered  letter  to, 
the  last  place  of  abode  of  the  owner,  agent,  or  oc- 
cupant. 


'i 

ii 

jlll 

i: 

if 

308 


KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 

Willis  L.  Moore,  chief  of  the  United  States 
Weather  Bureau  has  prepared  a  valuable  and 
interesting  report  on  the  climate  of  Alaska.  "The 
•climates  of  the  coast  and  the  interior,"  he  says, 
"are  unlike  in  many  respects,  and  the  differences 
<ire  intensified  in  this,  as  perhaps  in  few  other 
countries,  by  exceptional  physical  conditions. 
The  natural  contrast  between  land  and  sea  is 
here  tremendously  increased  by  the  current  of 
warm  water  that  impinges  on  the  coast  of  British 
Columbia,  one  branch  flowing  northward  toward 
Sitka,  and  thence  westward  to  the  Kadiak  and 
Shumagin  Islands. 

"The  fringe  of  islands  that  separates  the  main- 
land from  the  Pacific  Ocean  from  Dixon  Sound 
northward  and  also  a  strip  of  the  mainland  for 
possibly  twenty  miles  back  from  the  sea,  follow- 
ing the  sweep  of  the  coast,  as  it  curves  to  the 
northwestward  to  the  western  extremity  of 
Alaska,  form  a  distinct  climate  division,  which 


^HOMteiMHiMtaiiia 


m  is 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 


209 


may  be  termed  temperate  Alaska.  The  tempera- 
ture rarely  falls  to  zero;  winter  does  not  set  in 
until  December  i,  and  by  the  last  of  May  the 
snow  has  disappeared  except  on  the  mountains. 
The  mean  winter  temperature  of  Sitka  is  32.5, 
but  little  less  than  that  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
While  Sitka  is  fully  exposed  to  the  sea  influence, 
places  further  inland,  but  not  over  the  coast 
rang-e  of  mountains,  as  Killisnoo  and  Juneau, 
havu  also  mild  temperatures  throug-hout  the 
winter  months.  The  temperature  changes  from 
month  to  month  in  temperate  Alaska  are  small, 
not  exceeding  twenty-five  degrees  from  midwin- 
ter to  TTidsummer.  The  average  temperature 
of  July,  the  warmest  month  of  summer,  rarely 
reaches  55  degrees,  and  the  highest  temperat-ure 
of  a  single  day  seldom  reaches  75  degrees. 

"The  rainfall  of  Temperate  Alaska  is  notori- 
ous the  world  over,  not  only  as  regards  the 
quantity  that  falls,  but  also  as  to  the  manner  of 
its  falling,  viz.,  in  long  and  incessant  rains  and 
drizzles.  Cloud  and  fog  naturally  abound,  there 
being  on  an  average  but  sixty-six  clear  days  in 
the  year. 

•'Alaska  is  a  land  of  striking  contrasts,  both 
in  climatR  ^s  well  as  topography.  When  the  sun 
14 


210 


KLONDIKE. 


shines  the  atmosphere  is  remarkably  clear,  the 
scenic  cfifects  are  magnificent;  all  nature  seems 
to  be  in  holiday  attire.  But  the  scene  may 
change  very  quickly;  the  sky  becomes  overcast; 
the  winds  increase  in  force;  rain  begins  to  fall; 
the  evergreens  sigh  ominously,  and  utter  deso- 
lation and  loneliness  prevail. 

"North  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  the  coast  climate 
becomes  more  rigorous  in  winter,  but  in  summer 
the  difference  is  much  less  marked.  Thus,  at 
St.  Michael,  a  short  distance  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Yukon,  the  mean  summer  temperature  is 
50  degrees,  but  four  degrees  cooler  than  Sitka. 
The  mean  summer  temperature  of  Point  Barrow, 
the  most  northerly  point  in  the  United  States, 
is  36.8  degrees,  but  four-tenths  of  a  degree  less 
than  the  temperature  of  the  air  flowing  across  the 
summit  of  Pike's  Peak,  Col. 

"The  rainfall  of  the  coast  region  north  of  the 
Y-ukon  delta  is  small,  diminishing  to  less  than  ten 
inches  within  the  arctic  circle. 

"The  climate  of  the  interior,  including  in  that 
designation  practically  all  of  the  country  except 
a  narrow  fringe  of  coastal  margin  and  the  terri- 
tory before  referred  to  as  temperate  Alaska,  is 
one  of  extreme  rigor  in  winter,  with  a  brief,  but 


:i|  <J 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 


811 


relatively  hot,  summer,  especially  when  the  sky 
is  free  from  clouds, 

"In  the  Klondike  region  in  midwinter  the  sun 
rises  from  9.30  to  10  A.  M.,  and  sets  from  2  to  3 
P.  M.,  the  total  length  of  daylight  being  about 
four  hours.  Remembering  that  the  sun  rises  but 
a  few  degrees  above  the  horizon,  and  that  it  is 
wholly  obscured  on  a  great  many  days,  the 
cliaracter  of  the  winter  months  may  easily  be 
imagined. 

"We  are  indebted  to  the  United  States  Coast 
and  Geodetic  Survey  for  a  series  of  six  months' 
observations  on  the  Yukon,  not  far  from  the  site 
of  the  present  gold  discoveries.  The  observa- 
tions were  made  with  standard  instruments,  and 
are  wholly  reliable.  The  mean  temperature  of 
the  months  October,  1889,  to  April,  1890,  both 
inclusive,  are  as  follows:  October,  33  degrees; 
November,  8  degrees;  December,  11  degrees  be- 
low zero;  January,  17  degrees  below  zero;,  Feb- 
ruary, 15  degrees  below  zero;  March  6  degrees 
above  zero;  April  20  degrees  above.  The  daily 
n.ean  temperature  fell  and  remained  below  the 
freezing  point  (32),  from  November  4,  1889,  to 
April  21,  1890,  thus  giving  168  days  as  the  length 
of  the  closed  season  of  1889-90,  assuming  the 


IS 


M  i 


212 


KLONDIKE. 


outdoor  operations  are  controlled  by  temperature 
only. 

The  lowest  temperature  registered  during  the 
winter  were:  32  degrees  below  zero  in  Novem- 
ber, 47  below  in  December,  59  below  in  January, 
55  below  in  February,  45  below  in  March,  26  be- 
low in  April. 

"The  greatest  contii.  )us  cold  occurred  in 
February,  1890,  when  the  daily  mean  for  five 
consecutive  days  was  47  degrees  below  zero. 
The  weather  moderated  slightly  about  the  ist  of 
March,  but  the  temperature  still  remained  be- 
low  the  freezing  point.  Generally  cloudy  weath- 
er prevailed,  there  being  but  three  consecutive 
days  in  any  month  with  clear  weather  during  the 
whole  winter.  Snow  fell  on  about  one-third  of 
the  days  in  winter,  and  a  less  number  in  the  early 
spring  and  late  fall  months. 

"Greater  cold  than  that  here  noted  has  been 
experienced  in  the  United  States  for  a  very  short 
time,  but  never  has  it  continued  so  very  cold 
for  so  long  a  time.  In  the  interior  of  Alaska 
the  winter  sets  in  as  early  as  September,  when 
snow  storms  may  be  expected  in  the  mountains 
and  passes.  Headway  during  one  of  these 
storms  is  impossible,  and  the  traveler  who  is 


re 

he 
n- 

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)e- 

in 
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of 

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;he 
of 
rly 

?en 
ort 
old 
ska 
len 
.ins 
ese 
I   is 


6 


m 


ffl^nin 

^^Hf 

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C 

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V 

< 


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fit)  >, 

M       1^  I 

o  t/) 


(U 


Pi 


!>  = 


o 


eo 


V 


CLIMATE  OF  ALASKA. 


213 


c 

e 

a; 
< 


o 

:z 

.5  't\ 
o  t/i 
»-  'a 


1 


c  ^ 


overtaken  by  one  of  them  is  indeed  fortunate 
if  he  escapes  with  his  life.  Snow  storms  of  great 
severity  '.nay  occur  in  any  month  from  Septem- 
ber to  May,  inclusive. 

"The  changes  of  temperature  from  winter  to 
summer  are  rapid,  owing  to  the  great  increase 
in  the  length  of  the  day.  In  May  the  sun  rises 
at  about  3  A.  M.  and  sets  about  9  P.  M.  In  June 
it  rises  about  1.30  in  the  morning  and  sets  at 
10.30,  giving  about  twenty  hours  of  daylight  and 
dififused  twilight  the  remainder  of  the  time. 

"The  mean  summer  temperature  of  the  inte- 
rior doubtless  ranges  between  60  and  70  degrees, 
according  to  elevation,  being  highest  in  the  mid- 
dle and  lower  Yukon  Valleys." 


u 
rt  -I 


PQ 


m 


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1 

Hmi 

if! 

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i 

j 

IJ'M 


i 


I 


214 


KLONDIKE. 


CHAPTER   XV. 


OPENING  UP  THE  COUNTRY. 

Although  so  short  a  time  has  elapsed  since  the 
iriches  of  the  Yukon  country  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world  the  rush  of  gold  seekers  to  the 
north  as  compelled  the  searching  out  of  new 
means  of  entrance  into  the  interior.  The  Chil- 
koot  trail,  described  at  length  in  the  chapter  en- 
titled, "Seeking  the  Pot  of  Gold,"  remains  the 
most  feasible  of  all  the  routes,  but  the  narrow  di- 
mensions of  the  Chilkoot  Pass  have  proved  en- 
tirely insufficient  for  the  incrowding  horde  of  for- 
tune hunters.  The  hardship  of  crossing  the  pass 
is  not  so  great  as  it  was.  it  is  said,  but  the  mass 
of  people  landed  by  the  boat  from  Juneau  after 
August  I  glutted  it  to  such  an  extent  that  thou- 
sands were  forced  to  camp  along  the  road  be- 
tween the  head  of  the  inlet  and  the  summit  wait- 
ing for  an  opportunity  to  get  through.  It  is  esti- 
maed  that  iq,ooo  people  started  for  Alaska  from 


OPENING   UP   THE   COUNTRY. 


215 


ports  on  the  Pacific  coast  between  July  14  and 
September  i,  1897,  and  comparatively  few  of 
these  could  get  through  into  the  interior  before 
spring. 

Unscrupulous  promoters  of  selfish  enterprises 
met  the  early  arrivals  at  Juneau  and  pictured  to 
them  the  great  advantage  of  White  Pass,  leading 
from  the  head  oi  Skaguay  River,  only  a  few  miles 
below  Dyea  Inlet.  They  described  the  pass  as  an 
easy  route  and  induced  the  majority  of  pilgrims 
to  undertake  it.  When  the  travelers  were  landed 
by  hundreds  with  their  baggage  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Skaguay  River  they  were  confronted  with  the 
disheartening  information  that  the  Pass  wasprac- 
tically  no  pass  at  all,  and  they  were  compelled  to 
camp  there  with  their  belongings  to  await  the 
blasting  of  a  passage  through.  It  was  not  until 
the  last  week  in  August  that  a  determined  eflfort 
was  made  to  blast  out  the  pass,  and  in  the  mean- 
time a  town  had  grown  up  at  the  foot  containing 
three  thousand  people.  The  hardships  suffered 
by  these  people  are  said  to  have  been  very  great, 
but  the  leading  men  got  together,  erected  them- 
selves into  a  town,  formed  a  city  council,  elected 
officers  and  appointed  a  committee.  Tliey  have 
maintained  order  admirably.    Within  a  fortnight 


216 


KLONDIKE. 


Skag-uay  had  its  streets  duly  named,  and  speciila- 
tors  were  dealing  in  corner  lots.  The  town  is 
only  a  collection  of  tents  and  huts  and  the  site  is 
said  to  lie  under  water  for  some  time  each  spring, 
but  as  the  trail  is  improved  and  travel  becomes 
more  regular  the  town  will  doubtless  be  moved 
farther  up  the  river  to  more  substantial  founda- 
tions. 

So  gireat  was  the  crush  that  for  the  protection 
of  life  Secretary  Bliss,  of  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment, was  constrained  on  August  9  to  issue  a 
proclamation,  calling  the  attention  of  all  who 
contemplated  making  the  trip  to  the  "exposure, 
privation,  suffering  and  danger  incident  thereto 
at  this  advanced  season  even  if  they  should  suc- 
ceed in  crossing  the  mountains."  At  that  time 
3000  persons  with  2000  tons  of  bag^g-age  were 
waiting  at  the  entrance  to  White  Pass,  and  less 
than  fifty  had  succeeded  in  working  their  way 
through  at  the  peril  of  their  lives.  About  a  thou- 
sand people  it  was  said  had  pushed  through  Chil- 
koot  Pass,  and  about  2000  were  waiting  for  a 
chance.  An  idea  of  the  difficulties  offered  at  the 
very  gateway  to  the  gold  regions  may  be  gained 
from  the  statement  of  a  San  Francisco  business 
man,  who  went  to  Juneau  in  August  on  a  steam- 


OPENING  UP  THE   COUNTRY. 


217 


er  and  thence  to  Dye.i  and  Skaguay.  'The  two 
so-called  towns,"  he  says,  "are  about  four  miles 
apart,  with  a  big  mountain,  which  runs  down  to 
the  ocean,  dividing  them.  Two  large  mountains 
hem  the  towns  in  on  the  opposite  sides.  At  the 
foof  of  one  of  these  moimtains  the  Dyea  River 
goes  rushing  down  to  the  ocean;  at  the  base  of 
the  other  the  Skaguay  River  runs  its  mad  flight. 
We  anchored  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  shore. 
We  could  get  no  nearer.  The  captain,  the  purser 
and  I  went  in  a  small  boat  to  ascertain  whether 
a  landing  could  be  made,  and  it  was  decided  that 
the  only  available  location  was  on  a  big  cluster 
of  barren  rocks  more  than  a  mile  out  from  shore. 
"There  were  four  hundred  passengers  and  six 
himdred  tons  of  freight  for  Klondike.  A  lighter 
was  lowered  and  three  hundred  men  were  put 
aboard  and  towed  to  the  rocks  by  a  row-boat. 
Then  the  freight  followed.  A  line  was  formed  by 
the  passengers,  leading  from  the  bottom  of  the 
rocks  to  the  top,  and  it  took  a  day  and  a  half  to 
land  the  freight  on  the  rocks.  From  here  the 
freight  had  to  be  taken  by  boat  to  the  shore  line. 
This  cost  $5  a  ton,  and  another  $5  a  ton  had  to 
be  paid  to  get  it  over  the  mudd\  beach  to  the 
mainland.    The  rocks  jre  about  midwav  between 


liui 


I 


!■  I 


218 


KLONDIKE. 


i 


Dyea  and  Skagiiay,  and  the  charges  to  either 
place  were  the  same.  Some  of  the  passengers 
who  landed  on  the  rocks  slept  in  a  tent,  while 
others  had  only  blankets." 

And  he  adds:  "It  is  terrifying  to  think  of  the 
fate  in  store  for  the  unfortunates  wiio  will  have 
to  winter  at  Dyea  and  Skaguay  this  year.  The 
ice-cold  wind  comes  down  through  the  two  pass- 
es at  a  rate  of  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  miles 
an  hour,  and  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow." 

Comment  has  been  made  on  the  fine  character 
of  the  men  who  are  quartered  at  the  foot  of  the 
passes.  They  are  of  gentlemanly  appearance,  de- 
termined and  patient,  just  the  kind  of  material 
with  which  to  open  up  a  new  country.  They 
have  been  chosen  like  Gideon's  band,  for  the  faint 
hearted  have  turned  back  in  the  first  flush  of  dis- 
appointment, selling  their  outfits  for  a  song. 
Camp  followers  and  desperadoes  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  attracted  yet  to  the  Alaskan  fields. 

Mr.  John  F.  Pratt,  in  his  chapter  on  "Charac- 
teristics of  Our  Northwestern  Possessions,"  has 
pointed  out  the  superiority  of  Chilkoot  Pass  to 
White  Pass,  while  others  less  conscientious  or 
less  well  informed  were  luring  tho ..sands  into 
unexpected  hardships.    What  he  says  now  about 


OPENING  UP  THE   COUNTRY. 


216 


them  will  be  of  great  value  to  any  person  who  is 
planning  for  a  journey  in  the  spring.  The  tv/o 
startmg  points  for  the  two  passes  are  separated 
bv  four  miles  of  salt  water.  The  Dvea  trail  which 
goes  over  Chilkoot  Pass,  involves  a  climb  of 
3500  feet,  while  the  Skaguay  trail,  not  yet  com- 
pleted, involves  a  climb  of  2650  feet  and  besides 
being  six  miles  longer,  is  marshy  in  places.  There 
is  a  swamp  of  seven  or  eight  miles  to  cross  be- 
fore reaching  Lake  Tagish.  Mir.  Pratt  has  fur- 
nished for  the  new  edition  O'f  this  book  a  series  of 
notes,  the  result  of  observations  taken  by  him  in 
the  summer  of  1894,  which  may  be  accepted  as 
altogether  authoritative.  The  notes  relating  to 
the  approach  to  Chilkoot  Pass  are  given  below: 

"The  names  of  the  recognized  landmarks  used 
by  the  miners  are  as  follows : 

"Dyea"  is  at  the  head  of  Taiya  Inlet,  and  is  the 
head  of  navigation;  at  this  point  "Healey's  Store" 
has  been  located  for  some  years. 

"Mouth  of  the  (Taiya)  Canyon"  is  where  the 
right  hand  branch  of  the  Taiya  River  emerges 
from  the  gorge  that  extend;;  up  the  pass  as  far 
as  Sheep  Camp. 

"Sheep  Camp"  is  a  camping  place  well  known 
frcm  the  fact  that  it  is  at  the  timber  limits  on  the 


1:  i 
.1: 1 


%.\ 


-^-^'"--' 


220 


KLONDIKE. 


west  side  gf  the  mountain  range,  and  that  no 
more  timber  is  available  until  Lake  Lindeman 
on  the  east  side  of  the  pass  is  reached.  There  is 
a  distance  of  about  sixteen  miles  that  will  have 
to  be  traversed  without  fuel  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  very  few  small,  isolated  spots  where 
creeping  "scrub"  may  be  found. 

"Stone  House"  is  an  upturned  rock,  a  short 
distance  beyond  "Sheep  Camp,"  with  space 
enough  under  it  to  shelter  eight  or  ten  persons 
closely  huddled  together. 

"Summit"  is  the  summit  of  the  pass,  the  east- 
ern portion  of  whic'h  is  filled  with  perpetual  snow. 

"Crater  Lakes"  are  a  chain  of  smalt  lakes,  the 
first  one  of  which  is  immediately  under  the  sum- 
mit, and  only  a  fev  hundred  feet  below  it; the  are 
free  from  ice  during  August  and  a  portion  of 
July. 

"The  trail  from  Dyea  leads  up  the  Taiya  River 
bottom  which  extends  i  o  the  mouth  of  the  Taiya 
Canyon  a  distance  of  about  seven  miles.  This 
bottom,  though  comparatively  narrow,  is  com- 
posed of  numerous  sandy  and  gravelly  islands, 
cutting  the  stream,  which  is  very  rapid  in  places, 
having  an  average  fall  for  this  distance  of  about 
50  feet  to  the  mile  into  several  channels.    A  ma- 


Mt.  Edgecumbe,  entrance  to  Sitka  Harbor.     Height,  2855  ft. 


li 


Muir  Glacier,  seen  from  summit. 


OPENING   UP  THE   COUNxRY. 


231 


jority  of  these  islands  iTave  good-sized  cotton-  ' 
wood  trees  growing  on  them. 

"At  the  Mouth  of  the  canyon"  the  cHmb  ac- 
tually commences;  the  trail  which  during  the  last 
mile  and  a  half  has  been  going  up  the  bottom  be- 
tween the  two  arms  of  the  river,  now  crosses  the 
right-hand  branch  a.id  goes  up  a  precipitous  hill 
and  beairs  away  to  the  right  from  the  stream, 
now  become  a  mountain  torrent,and  much  above 
it,  winding  along  the  mountain  side  through  the 
timiber  until  Sheep  Camp  is  reached.  From 
Sheep  Camp,  around  which  the  timber  is  rapidly 
being  consumed  by  the  numerous  campers,  the 
.  trail  goes  along  the  right-hand  side  of  this  stream 
that  has  already  become  much  smaller  and  Whose 
size  depends  upon  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
snow  melts,  until  the  foot  of  the  pass  proper  is 
reached.  From  here  the  ascent  is  made  on  the 
left  side ;  it  is  nearly  one  thousand  feet  in  altitude ; 
the  way  is  very  precipitous  and  is  over  broken 
rocks  which  lie  at  a  natural  slope  to  the  summit, 
where  there  is  ample  room  for  the  short  stops 
usually  made  there. 

"The  foregoing  applies  to  July  and  August; 
during  March,  April  and  May  the  trip  is  made  on 
the  snow,  the  route  following  the  best  grades  that 


111 


KLONDIKE. 

the  snow  and  ice  at  the  respective  times  will  per- 
mit. 

"The  approximate  distances  and  altitudes,  the 
former  by  estimation  and  the  latter  by  barometer 
determinations,  means  of  going  and  retmrning, 
are  as  follows: 

"Mouth  of  (Taiya)  Canyon"  from  Dyea  about 
seven  miles,  altitude  about  300  feet. 

"Sheep  Camp"  from  Dyea  about  ten  and  one- 
half  miles,  altitude  about  2050  feet. 

"Summit"  of  the  pass  fror"  Dyea  about  thir- 
teen niles,  altitude  about  3475  feet." 

^b-  "'^  gives  a  table  of  distances  from  the  head 
of  Dyea  Inlet  to  various  points  along  the  trail 
leading  to  the  gold  country,  which  is  the  result 
of  actual  surveys  and  hence  may  be  regarded  as 
correct.    This  table  follows: 

Ilea  J  of  canoe  navigation,  Dyea  Inlet. .  5.9c! 

Forks  of  Dyea  River 8.38 

Summit  of  Chilkoot  Pass 1476 

Landing  at  Lake  Lindeman 23.06 

Foot  of  Lake  Lindeman 27,49 

Head  of  Lake  Bennett 28.09 

Foot  of  Lake  Bennett 53-85 

Foot  of  Caribou  Crossing  (Lake  Nares).  56.44 


OPENING   UP   THE   COUNTRY.         223 

Foot  of  Tagish  Lake 7325 

Head  of  Marsh  Lake 97-21 

Head  of  Miles  Canon 122.94 

Foot  of  Miles  Canon 1 23.56 

Head  of  White  Horse  Rapids 1-24.95 

P'oot  of  White  Horse  Rapids 125-33 

Tahkeena  River  139-92 

Head  of  Lake  Labarge 153-07 

Foot  of  Lake  Labarge 184.22 

1     otalinqua  River 215.88 

Big  Salmon  River 249.33 

Little  Salmon  River 285.54 

Five  Finger  Rapids 344-83 

Pelly  River  403.29 

White  River  499.1 1 

Stewart  River 508.91 

Sixty-mile  Greek   530.41 

Dawson  City 57^1-70 

Fort  Reliance  582.20 

Forty-mile  River  627.08 

Boundary  Line 66*7.4^ 

It  was  inevitable  that  many  new  trails  should 
be  suggested  and  before  many  months  the  Yu- 
kon region  may  be  accessible  by  several  overland 
routes.     The  trail  by  way  of  Chilkat  Pass  used 


224 


KLONDIKE. 


^i'^' 


by  old  Jack  Dalton  does  not  seem  to  have  at- 
tracted travel  yet,  although  it  is  now  known  to 
be  a  promising  route.  U  crosses  the  Chilkat 
Pass,  and  follows  a  line  nearly  due  north  across 
the  plains  until  it  strikes  the  Lewis  river  just 
above  Five  Finger  Rapids.  Other  routes  are 
described  which  bear  signs  of  promise.  One  of 
these  is  by  way  of  the  Copper  River,  and  it  has 
the  advantage  of  forming  a  route  exclusively  on 
American  soil.  It  is  said  that  in  this  way  the 
Klondike  may  be  reached  after  a  journey  of  not 
much  more  than  three  hundred  miles  from  the 
coast,  and  that  it  would  not  cost  much  to  open  it 
up.  The  route  proposed  would  start  inland  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Copper,  near  the  Miles  Glacier, 
about  twenty-five  miles  east  of  the  entrance  to 
Prince  William  Sound.  It  would  follow  the  Cop- 
per River  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chittyna  River, 
which  is  the  principal  eastern  tributary,  and 
which  is  said  to  be  navigable  for  some  distance. 
From  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Chittyna 
either  a  highway  or  a  railroad  could  be  construct- 
ed without  great  difficulty,  it  is  said,  "-d  the 
grades  through  the  "low  pass,"  as  it  is  called  by 
the  natives,  probably  rhe  Scoloi  Pass,  which  ap- 
pears on  the  maps,  would  not  be  heavy.    Thence 


OPENING  UP  THE  COUNTRY. 


225 


the  road  woul-  follow  the  valley  of  the  White 
River  to  the  point  where  it  empties  into  the  Yu- 
kon. 

Another  overland  route  which  is  attracting 
some  attention  starts  from  the  upper  end  oi  Stu- 
art Lake,  about  five  hundred  miles  above  Ash- 
croft,  a  British  Columbia  mining  town.  For  six- 
teen miles  above  Ashcroft  there  is  an  excellent 
wagon  road,  which  brings  the  traveler  to  Upper 
Fraseir  River,  which  Is  navigable  for  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  for  light  steamers.  Eleven 
miles  above  Stuart  Lake  a  series  oi  waterwavs  is 
found,  which  can  easily  be  converted  into  a  steam- 
er route.  Freight  can  now  be  taken  as  far  as  the 
lake  for  six  cents  per  pound.  From  the  lake  to 
Foit  Connelly  the  water  route  would  be  through 
Taicher  River,  across  North  Tatlah  Lake  and 
Driftwood  River. 

From  Fort  Connelly  the  route  would  be  to 
Telegraph  Creek,  over  prairie  country.  From 
Telegraph  Creek  to  Klondike  travel  is  easy,  and, 
in  fact,  the  entire  route  is  said  to  present  many 
features  preferable  to  the  water  route  via  the 
coast  and  through  the  lakes  to  the  Yukon  River. 

The  Interior  Department  of  the  Canadian  gov- 
ernment is  interested  in  opening  up  a  route  by 


..-> 


226 


KLONDIKE. 


way  of  Edtno'nton  and  th  Peace  River,  which 
it  is  asserted  offer  the  advantage  of  a  continuous 
stretch  of  country  available  for  horses,  and  may, 
therefore,  be  utilized  by  pack  frx  '-  riight  tliroiigh 
to  the  gold  fields.  It  goes  •  .:  i  ■ .  ^.y  way  of  the 
Peace  River  to  the  Liard,  and  tiience  by  way  of 
the  Dease  to  the  Pelly,  Vvhich  joins  the  Yukcii  at 
Fort  Selkirk. 

Mr.  Ogilvie  speaks  of  another  route  bels^/een 
Telegraph  Creek  and  Teslin  Lake  which  will 
soon  be  opened.  Telegraph  Creek  is  the  liead  of 
steamer  navigation  on  the  Stikine  River  and  is 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Teslin 
Lake.  The  Yukon  is  navigable  for  steamer.-,  from 
its  mouth  to  Teslin  Lake,  a  distance  00'  2300 
miles. 

R.  PL  Horton,  coal  mine  inspeciT^r  lor  the 
State  of  Washington,  says  that  he  went  ip  the 
•Stikine  nine  years  ago.    At  that  time  the  .  vjon- 

dike  was  unheard  of,  but  he  was  within  100  miles 
of  that  river  and  could  easily  have  reached  it. 
This  route  shortens  the  distance,  so  it  is  said, 
and  there  are  no  passes  to  climb.  The  grass  is 
good  all  the  way  and  in  many  pla.  ^^.  hay  could 
be  cut  for  stock  feed  during  the  \/^  ror  months. 
This  trip  could  be  comfortably  madt  in  thirty 
days. 


OPENING   UP  THE   COUNTRY. 


227 


The  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  interior  is 
only  a  question  of  time,  and  perhaps  of  a  very 
short  time.    The  suggestion  is  by  no  means  new. 

In  1886,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  Senate,  the  Director  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  Air.  J .  W.  Pow- 
ell, presented  a  report  on  the  feasibility  of  con- 
structing a  railroad  between  the  United  States, 
Asiatic  Russia,  and  Japan.  Mr.  Pow^^ll  said  that 
from  all  available  information,  the  proposed  line 
appeared  to  present  no  greater  obstacles  than 
those  already  overcome  in  transcontinental  rail- 
road building.  It  was  suggested  that  the  line 
start  from  some  point  on  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  in  Montana,  and  run,  via  the  head  wat- 
ers of  the  Yukon ;  and  thence  to  some  point  on 
the  shore  of  Bering  Sea,  the  total  distance  cov- 
ered being  about  2765  miles.  A  branch  line  of 
375  miles  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Peace  Riv- 
er might  run  to  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine  River, 
so  as  to  facilitate  communication  with  Sitka. 

"I  am  thoroug'hly  convinced,"  said  Ogilvic  in 
his  report  of  June  10,  1896,  "that  a  road  from  the 
coast  to  some  point  on  the  head  waters  of  the 
river,  preferably  by  the  Taku,  if  at  all  practicable, 
would  convert  all  our  p?rt  of  the  rivar  into  a  hive 


228 


KLONDIKE. 


of  industry.  It  may  be  said  there  is  no  competi- 
tion, and  anyway  in  the  present  condition  of  trade 
things  cannot  be  sold  much  cheaper  at  a  fair 
profit.  Once  let  a  railroad  get  from  some  point 
on  the  coast  to  some  liOiat  on  the  river  so  that 
we  can  have  quick,  cheap  and  certain  entrance 
and  exit,  and  the  whole  Yukon  basin  will  be 
worked.  At  present  the  long  haul  makes  the  ex- 
pense of  mining  machinery  practically  prohibi- 
tive, for  the  cost  of  transportation  is  often  more 
than  the  first  cost  of  the  machine." 

An  English  syndicate  within  a  short  time  after 
the  announcement  of  the  Klondike  finds  had  be- 
gun to  survey  the  White  Pass  for  a  railroad  run- 
ning from  Skaguay  to  Taku  arm  Tagish  Lake, 
a  distance  of  sixty-eight  miles,  and  eventually  to 
the  Hootalinqua  River,  a  distance  of  no  miles. 
It  is  not  expected  that  the  road  could  be  com- 
pleted in  less  than  two  years  on  account  of  the 
shortness  of  the  summer  season.  The  syndicate 
has  asked  the  Canadian  government  to  guarantee 
3  per  cent  interest  on  its  debentures  to  the  extent 
of  $7,500,000,  the  estimated  cost  of  the  construc- 
tion of  the  road.  This  is  not  the  only  project  by 
any  means,  for    several     companies  have  been 


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OPENING  UP  THE   COUNTRY. 


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formed  with  a  view  to  surveying  routes  for  the 
construction  of  railways. 

It  will  probably  not  be  long  before  channels  of 
regular  and  reasonably  rapid  communication 
with  the  Yukon  region  will  be  opened  up.  The 
Canadian  government  already  has  made  a  propo- 
sition to  the  United  States  looking  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  telegraph  line  into  the  center  of  the 
Klondike  district.  The  proposals  have  been  ap- 
proved by  the  British  Secretary  of  State  for  for- 
eign affairs  and  have  been  forwarded  by  the  Gov- 
ernor General  of  Canada  through  the  British 
embassy  in  Washington  to  the  State  Department, 
and  thence  ireferrcd  to  the  Interior  Department. 

The  proposals,  while  reserving  the  rights  of 
cither  country  pending  the  settlement  of  the  in- 
ternational boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada  south  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  urge 
the  expediency  of  establishing  a  pennanent  route 
giving  access  to  the  interior  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year.  The  most  feasible  route,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  Canadian  authorities,  would  be  to  start 
from  the  head  of  Winter  navigation,  on  Lynn 
Canal,  cross  the  mountains  by  White  Pass,  or 
by  any  other  pass  which  may  seem  more  acces- 


230 


KLONDIKE. 


sible,  and  proceed  northward  to  Fort  Selkirk,  and 
thence  to  Klondike. 

The  Canadian  g-overnment  asserts  its  readiness 
to  undertake  to  open  communication  by  con- 
structing a  telegraph  line  from  the  head  of  Win- 
ter navigation,  traversing  a  distance  of  eighty 
...iles  across  the  summit  of  the  mountain  range, 
to  a  convenient  point  northeast  of  the  motmtain 
range,  from  which  a  trail  can  be  followed  to  Fort 
Selkirk  and  to  Klondike.  That  government  also 
signifies  its  intention,  in  case  the  propositions  are 
adopted,  to  erect  suitable  places  for  shelter  at 
periods  of  from  fcwty  to  fifty  miles  alonig  the  line 
and  keep  up  dog  trains  during  the  Winter 
months  for  the  conveyance  of  the  mails  to  and 
from  the  interior. 

Those  who  were  interested  in  the  construction 
of  the  proposed  Russian  American  telegraph  line 
in  the  early  sixties  have  questioned  whether  that 
line  could  ever  have  been  operated  successfully 
on  account  of  the  heavy  snows,  but  there  will 
now  doubtless  be  an  opportunity  for  a  practical 
experiment. 

An  arrangement  has  been  made  by  the  United 
States  and  Canadian  authorities  by  which  it  is 
hoped  Circle  City  and  Dawson  City  will  have 


OPENING  UP  THE  COUNTRY. 


281 


mails  once  every  fortnight.  This  will  be  effected 
by  permitting  the  postal  departments  of  the  two 
countries  to  ..'ork  togetner  in  hannony.  Hith- 
erto the  cost  of  a  round  trip  for  the  United  States 
mail  carriers  has  been  $600  and  the  mails  have 
been  delivered  once  a  month  when  possible.  The 
Chilkoot  Pass  was  crossed  with  the  mail  by 
means  of  Indian  carriers.  In  the  winter  trans- 
portation has  been  carried  on  by  means  of  dog 
sleds,  and  there  have  been  occasions  when  the 
mail  was  lost  on  the  way.  It  is  hoped  that  under 
the  new  contracts  there  will  be  no  stoppage,  no 
matter  how  low  the  temperature  may  go.  The 
contractor  has  reported  that  he  was  sending  a 
boat,  in  sections,  by  way  of  St.  Michael,  up  the 
Yukon  River,  to  be  used  on  the  waterway  of  the 
route,  and  it  is  thought  much  time  will  be  saved 
by  this,  as  in  former  times  it  was  necessary  for 
carriers  to  stop  and  build  boats  or  rafts  to  pass 
the  lakes. 

In  addition  to  this,  for  the  summeir  season,  con- 
tracts have  been  made  with  two  steamboat  com- 
panies for  two  trips  from  there  to  Seattle.  When 
the  steamers  reach  St.  Michael  the  mail  will  be 
transferred  from  the  steamers     to    the  flat-bot- 


m^:-^- 


282 


KLONDIKE. 


tomed  boats  riming  up  tRe  Yukon  as  far  as  Cir- 
cle City,  and  perhaps  farther. 

Postmaster  General  Gary,  on  September  2  is- 
sued a  formal  order  establishing  an  exchange  of 
mails  once  a  month  between  the  postofifices  at 
Dyea  and  Dawson  City,  the  service  to  consist  of 
one  round  trip  each  month,  the  mails  to  contain 
only  letters  and  post  cards  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  articles.  The  contract  for  performing  the 
service  will  be  let  by  the  Canadian  Government, 
the  United  States  paying  the  latter  for  its  share 
of  the  expense  based  on  the  stretch  of  our  terri- 
tory that  the  route  traverses. 

The  United  States  Government  has  taken  an 
important  step  toward  furthering  the  develop- 
ment cd  the  Yukon  country,  by  the  establish- 
ment of  an  army  post  at  St.  Michael  for  the  pro- 
tection of  life  and  property.  This  was  decided 
upon  at  a  meeting  of  the  Cabinet  in  Washington, 
September  17,  i8q7. 


TRAITS  OF  NATIVE  POPULATION.      283 


CHAPTER  XVI, 


TRAITS  OF  THE  NATIVE  POPULATION. 

According  to  the  census  of  1890  the  population 
of  Alaska  consisted  of  4,298  whites,  23,531  In- 
dians, 2,288  Mongolians  and  1,935  of  mixed 
blood.  These  figures  will  have  to  be  revised,  for 
another  year  will  see  the  white  population  at  least 
quadrupled.  The  designation  "Indian,"  as  ap- 
plied to  natives  of  the  Territory,  is  misleading. 
Ethnologically  the  natives  of  Alaska  may  be 
classed  in  four  divisions  or  families.  The  south- 
eastern coast  and  the  islands  of  Alexander  archi- 
pelago, from  Dixon  entranc-  as  far  north  as  Mt. 
St.  Elias,  are  occupied  by  ih-  Kolosch  or  Tlingit 
family  of  Indians.  The  Indians  of  the  interior  be- 
long to  another  family,  known  among  ethnolo- 
gists as  Athapascans  or  Tinnehs.  They  occupy 
the  country  from  Hudson  Bay  to  the  mountains 
skirting  the  coast,  and  they  touch  the  sea  only  in 


Ewii^^ 


5^^4 


KLONDIKE. 


two  places — the  Kenai  Peninsula  on  Cook  Inlet 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Copper  River. 

Skirtinj^:  the  entire  shore  north  from  Mt.  St. 
Eli.is  to  Point  Barrow  and  beyond  are  tiie  Eski- 
mo. The  Aleuts  occupy  the  islands  of  the  Aleu- 
tian archipelago  and  the  narrow  peninsula  of 
which  tliose  islands  are  a  continuation.  The 
Athapascans  and  the  Koloschans  a  ^  divided  into 
innumerable   smaller    tribes   or  ■;,    some   of 

which  differ  from  one  another  by  nardly  notice- 
able peculiarities,  and  occa^.ionally  travelers  have 
designated  an  entire  family  by  the  name  of  some 
one  of  these  smaller  tribes,  a  practice  which  leads 
to  more  or  less  confusion. 

Of  all  these  native  Alaskans  the  greatest  inter- 
est attaches  to  the  tribes  scattered  along  the 
southeastern  coast.  They  were  known  early  as  a 
hardy,  warlike,  dominant  race,  possessed  of  high 
intelligence  and  of  exceptional  skill  in  various 
arts.  Charles  Sumner  said  of  them  thirty  years 
ago:  "For  generations  they  have  been  warriors, 
prompt  to  take  offense  and  vindictive,  as  is  the 
nature  of  the  Indian  race;  always  ready  to  exact 
an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth."  This 
description  of  the  tribe  is  borne  out  by  history. 
It  was  a  Koloschan  tribe  who  received  two  boat 


' 


TRAITS  OF  NATIVE  POPULATION.      235 

crews  of  Tschirikow's  expedition  in  1841,  as  they 
landed  in  a  wooded  cove,  and  no  survivor  return- 
ed to  tell  their  fate. 

The  Koiosch  family  are  more  popularly  known 
as  Tlingits.  The  word  "Koiosch,"  or  more  prop- 
erly "Kaluga,"  is  of  Aleutian  origin,  and  means 
"dish,"  the  allusion  being  to  the  dish-shaped  or- 
naments vorn  by  this  family.  Prof.  Powell,  in 
his  paper  on  the  "Indian  Linguistic  Families  of 
America  North  of  Mexico,"  estimates  the  entire 
Koloschan  family  to  number  6437,  divided  into 
eleven  dififerent  tribes  or  kuans. 

The  Indians  who  are  m-et  with  at  the  foot  of  the 
Chilkoot  and  Wfiite  I'asses  belong  to  the  Chilkat 
tribe.  These  are  the  natives  pressed  into  service 
for  packing  across  the  divide.  Of  them  Lieut. 
Frederick  Schv/atka  said  at  the  time  of  his  recon- 
noisance  in  188^: 

"As  trader.^  ihey  are  equal  in  every  respect  to 
civilized  men,  and  as  honesty  is  by  no  means  a 
prominent  or  characteristic  trait  among  them,  to 
deal  with  them  successfully  requires  the  closest 
attention.  Trade  with  them  has  always  been  eag- 
erly sought  after  by  white  men,  as  they  are  by  far 
the  wealthiest  of  all  these  Indians,  and  through 
their  great  energy  have  the  best  furs  to  dispose  of. 


236 


KLONDIKE. 


Formerly  all  trade  between  the  whites  on  the 
coast  and  the  Indians  living  in  the  interior  had  to 
be  conducted  through  this  tribe,  and  they  would 
not  allow  white  men  to  venture  inland  over  their 
trails,  which  were  the  only  ones,  nor  would  they 
allow  the  interior  natives  to  even  come  to  the  sea- 
coast.  In  this  way  they  had  a  complete  and  abso- 
lute monopoly  of  the  trade,  and  could  dictate  al- 
most any  terms  they  chose  to  both  parties." 

Since  Schwatka's  day  there  has  been  a  change 
in  the  condition  of  these  Indians.  The  opening 
up  of  the  salmon  trade  h?.s  given  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  work  in  the  canneries,  and  the  increase 
in  overland  traffic  has  enabled  them  to  d-evote 
themselves  to  packing  lor  money,  so  that  they  are 
more  amenable  than  formerly.  The  Chilkats 
proper  have  three  ])ermanent  villages,  the  chief  of 
which  is  Kloquan  on  Chilkat  Inlet.  The  Chil- 
koots,  the  other  division  of  the  tribe,  have  one  vil- 
lage situated  on  the  Chilkoot  River,  near  Dyca 
Inlet.  In  the  entire  tribe  of  alwut  looo  there  are 
between  300  and  400  able  bodied  men. 

The  Chilkats  and  the  Chilkoots,  like  all  the 
tribes  belonging  to  the  Koloschan  family,  are  well 
advanced  in  native  arts,  and  it  is  surmised  by  stu- 
dents that  some  of  these  arts  were  brought  over 


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TRAITS  OF  NATIVE  POPULATION.      237 


from  the  Asiatic  side.  There  is  a  strong  resem- 
blance, facially,  between  these  Alaskan  tribes  of 
the  southeast  and  the  Japanese,  and  the  skill  the 
Indians  have  shown  in  various  arts  bears  out  the 
theory  that  the  two  peoples  are  distantly  akin. 

Mr.  Pratt,  of  the  Coast  Survey,  says  that  he 
found  in  the  winter  house  of  the  chief  of  the  Chil- 
kat  tribe  at  Kloquan  in  1894  a  blunderbuss  of 
bronze,  with  flaring  mouth,  utterly  unlike  any- 
thing to  be  found  elsewhere  on  the  continent,  and 
bearing  evidence  of  having  been  brought  originally 
from  Jap  n  or  China.  It  was  preserved  as  a  relic, 
and  by  its  side  was  a  spear  of  Si  very  hard  dark 
wood,  which  mig]'t  have  been  mahogany,  and 
which  the  Indians  had  a  tradition  was  brought  to 
them  by  the  first  white  man  w  ho  ever  came  to 
Alaska.  The  totem  poles  and  carvings  in  the 
chief's  house  in  Kloquan  are  remarkable,  and 
some  of  them  are  exceedingly  fine.  Noticeable 
there  is  the  mask  of  a  woman,  showing  singular 
skill  of  workmanship.  On  inf|uny  it  was  found 
to  be  the  likeness  of  the  dead  wife  of  a  former 
chief,  Kohklux.  On  her  death  he  had  sent  out 
for  the  slaves  in  his  tribe  who  were  skilled  carvers 
and  had  ordered  the  one  most  skillful  to  execute 
the  mask.    The  totems  of  this  people  are  surpris- 


288 


KLONDIKE. 


ingly  good.  Tliey  are  clone  in  Alaska  cedar, 
which  is  the  most  durable  wood  in  that  portion  of 
the  countr}'.  They  also  work  in  slate  and  in  ivory 
and  horn.  They  make  beautiful  baskets,  which 
are  water-tight;  and  the  finely-wrought  Chilkat 
blankets  have  carried  the  name  of  the  tribe  far 
beyond  their  own  borders. 

There  is  a  striking  difference  between  the  In- 
dians of  the  coast  and  those  who  range  the  coun- 
try just  the  other  side  of  the  mountains.     The 

tribes  with  which  those  who  follow  the  overland 
route  to  tfie  gold  fields  come  in  contact  are  as  a 
rule  a  wretched  lot  of  savages,  inferior  in  body 
and  in  mind.  From  the  Chilkoot  and  White 
Passes  north  to  old  Fort  Selkinic,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Lewis  and  Pelly  Rivers,  wander  the  Tagish 
Indians.  They  are  commonly  known  as  the 
"Sticks,"  and  the  latter  name  is  sometimes  given 
to  all  the  Indians  of  the  interior  by  miners  and  ex- 
plorers. Properly,  a  "Stick"  Indian  is  one  of  the 
tribe  who  are  met  with  along  the  chain  of  lakes 
and  rivers  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Yukon,  ex- 
teliding  northward  from  Chilkoot  Pass.  The 
word  "Stick"  means  wood,  and  these  are  the  in- 
habitants of  the  forests.  It  is  thought  by  Prof. 
Powell,  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  that  these 


TRAITS  OF  NATIVE  POPULATION*. 


239 


*5 


"Stick"  or  Tagish  Indians  belong  ethnologically 
to  the  Kolosch  family  of  the  coast,  although  they 
share  the  habits  of  the  Athapascan  tribes  of  the 
interior.  They  are  a  degenerate  race,  few  in  num- 
bers and  devoid  of  spirit. 

William  Ogilvie,  the  Canadian  explorer,  esti- 
mated their  number  in  1896  at  112,  and  these 
range  over  a  stretch  of  country  400  miles  in 
length.  A  few  of  them  live  most  of  the  time  with 
the  Chilkats,  some  of  the  latter  having  Tagish 
wives,  and  the  Tagish  are  little  better  than  beasts 
of  burden  for  the  more  active  race.  They  com- 
plain bitterly  of  the  robbery  and  tvranny  of  the 
Chilkat  tribe. 

A  substantial  looking  house,  known  as  Tagish 
House,  has  been  built  on  the  river  connecting 
Lake  Tagish  and  Lake  Marsh.  It  is  made  of 
logs  and  hewn  timber,  with  a  roof  made  of  bark, 
and  it  presents  quite  a  civilized  appearance.  The 
Indians  meet  occasionally  here  for  a  yearly  festi- 
val or  consultation.  The  "Sticks"  are  skillful  in 
spearing  salmon.  They  use  a  spear  consisting  of 
three  points,  the  middle  one  of  iron,  straight  and 
sharpened,  wFik  the  two  on  each  side  are  of 
bone,  and  barbed  with  an  old  nail  or  other  small 
scrap  of  iron.    When  in  use  these  are  fastened  to 


iE 


..A 


240 


KLONDIKE. 


a  long  pole  cut  especially  for  the  purpose.  Small 
seines  are  used  in  addition  to  the  spears.  They 
are  somewhat  stunted,  and  present  a  cadaverous 
appearance,  as  if  only  half  nourished,  but  they 
are  capable  of  carrying  as  large  packs  as  the  Chil- 
kats,  who  are  a  really  strong  and  hardy  race. 

North  of  Fort  Selkirk  tribes  of  a  better  quality 
are  met  with.  Tliese  belong  unquestionably  to 
the  Tinneh  or  Athapascan  family. 

Chief  among  these  are  David's  band  and  Char- 
ley's band,  as  they  are  called.  David's  band  has 
its  headquarters  about  eighty-five  miks  above 
Fort  Reliance  and  not  far  from  the  deserted  trad- 
ing station  known  as  Kelle  Isle.  It  numbers 
about  70,  according  to  Ogilvie.  Cliarley's  band 
is  quartered  directly  on  the  Yukon,  about  100 
miles  below  the  boundary  on  the  American  side. 
The  village  consists  of  half  a  dozen  houses  built 
of  sticks  and  brush,  with  just  enough  room  to  ac- 
comodate the  members  of  the  family,  including 
dogs.  There  are  a  few  other  scattered  bands  in 
the  region,  but  their  number  is  very  small.  The 
Indians  of  the  Yukon  region  were  decimated  by 
an  epidemic  a  good  many  years  ago,  and  this 
partly  accounts  for  the  sparseness  of  the  popula- 
tion.   These  natives  are  wonderfully  skillful  with 


1 


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laverous 
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TRAITS  OF  NATIVE  POPULATION.      241 


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the  canoe  and  with  fishing.  They  are  Christian- 
ized to  some  extent  by  the  missionaries  of  the 
Church  of  England.  They  have  Sunday  services 
with  Bible  lessons,  readings  and  prayers,  and  ac- 
cording to  Ogilvie  never  go  on  a  journey  of  any 
length  without  their  religious  books,  from  which 
they  always  read  a  portion  before  going  to  sleep. 
They  are  greedy  and  selfish  in  their  transactions 
with  the  whites.  Ogilvie  estimates  the  total  num- 
ber of  Indians  on  the  upper  Yukon  at  482,  of 
whom  136  are  on  the  United  States  side  of  the 
boundary. 

All  the  Indians  of  this  section  have  peculiar 
ideas  of  right  and  honor.  They  apparently  n-ever 
hesitate  about  making  way  with  anything  that 
happens  to  suit  tbeir  fancy,  provided  it  is  not 
stored  away,  but  if  it  is  "cached"'  or  pocketed 
away,  at  a  distance  from  the  owner,  they  will  not 
touch  it,  and  it  is  said  that  they  will  starve  almost 
before  helping  themselves  to  food  stored  in  this 
manner. 

Lieut.  Henry  T.  Allen,  U.  S.  A.,  who  made  a 
military  reconnoisance  in  1885  exploring  the 
country  from  the  mouth  of  the  Copper  River 
northward  along  the  Tanana  and  following  the 
Tanana  from  its  source  to  its  junction  with  the 


242 


KLONDIKE. 


Yukon  made  some  exceedingly  interesting  ob- 
servations concerning  the  Indians  of  those  re- 
gions. The  region  drained  by  the  Copper  and  its 
tributaries  is  about  25.000  square  miles  in  extent, 
and  the  Indians  in  this  region,  according  to  Al- 
len, number  only  about  400.  The  families  are 
small:  the  men  are  capable  of  great  endurance, 
although  not  muscular.  Special  food  is  always 
cooked  for  the  men  and  the  refuse  given  to  the 
women.  A  boy  of  five  years  has  precedence  over 
his  mother  at  meals. 

The  social  organization  is  very  rigid.  The 
tribes  are  divided  strictly  into  classes.  The  "ty- 
ones"  are  the  leaders.  They  scorn  work,  and 
never  condescend  to  carry  a  pack  or  pull  a  rope, 
but  other  members  of  the  tribe  yield  absolute  alle- 
giance to  them.  The  "skillies"  are  near  relatives 
of  the  tyones,  and  come  next  in  rank.  Then 
come  the  "shamans,"  or  medicine  men,  and  then 
the  vassals  of  various  degree.  In  all  assemblies 
seats  are  assigned  absolutely  according  to  rank. 
Many  of  the  skillies  have  vassals  at  their  beck  and 
call.  Allen  saw  one  of  them,  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years  of  age,  sitting  within  a  few  feet  of  the  river, 
order  a  man  six  feet  high,  a  vassal,  to  bring  him 
water.    Th-e  wives  are  treated  with  little  consider- 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY. 


2AS 


resting  ob- 
f  those  re- 
Dper  and  its 
!S  in  extent, 
ding  to  Al- 
families  are 
endurance, 
d  is  always 
;iven  to  the 
edence  over 

rigid.  The 
I.  The  "ty- 
work,  and 
pull  a  rope, 
bsolute  alle- 
ear  relatives 
ank.  Then 
;n,  and  then 
1  assemblies 
ing  to  rank, 
eu  beck  and 
?n  or  fifteen 
of  the  river, 
o  bring  him 
tie  consider- 


ation, and  arc  valued  in  proportion  to  their  ability 
to  pack  and  do  general  work. 

Every  house  has  a  sweat  batli.  It  is  about  ten 
feet  square  and  four  or  five  feet  high,  nearly  all 
under  ground.  It  is  lighted  bv  a  small  aperture, 
over  which  the  intestines  of  a  bear  arc  stretched. 
Stones  are  heated  by  placing  them  on  a  close 
frame  of  logs  in  the  main  rootn,  after  th-e  fashion 
of  the  old-fashioned  lime  kiln,  and  they  are  trans- 
ferred to  the  sweat  room  by  sticks  used  as  tong:<. 
The  aperture  is  closed  and  water  is  poured  on  till 
the  necessary  amount  of  heated  vapor  is  pro- 
duced. All  the  traits  of  which  mention  is  made 
grow  less  pronounced  the  farther  into  the  interior 
one  penetrates. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY. 

When  Seward  negotiated  the  treaty  with  Rus- 
sia in  1867,  providing  for  the  purchase  of  Russian 
America  by  the  United  States,  it  appears  that 


244 


KLONDIKE. 


none  of  the  public  men  of  the  day  were  taken  into 
the  secret  until  just  before  the  treaty  was  sent  to 
the  Senate.  During  the  sumuier  of  1867  Con- 
gress took  recesses  from  time  to  time  with  a  view 
to  holding  President  Johnson  in  check,  and  a  res- 
olution had  been  adopted  providing  for  a  recess 
from  March  3c  to  July  3.  Late  on  the  evening  of 
March  29  Senator  Sumner,  who  was  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  R-^lations,  found  a 
note  from  Mr.  Seward  awaiiinpf  him:  "Can  you 
come  to  my  house  this  evening?  1  have  a  matter 
of  public  business  in  regard  to  which  it  is  desir- 
able that  I  should  confer  with  you  at  once."  Re- 
sponding to  this  note  he  learned  for  the  first  time 
that  a  treaty  had  been  negotiated  and  was  on  the 
point  of  being  signed.  The  signatures  of  Mr. 
Seward  and  of  the  Russian  Minister,  Mr.  de 
Stoeckel,  were  affixed  to  the  document  at  four 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  and  the  treaty  was 
transmitted  to  the  Senate  the  same  day.  On 
April  I  an  executive  session  of  the  Senate  was 
convened  by  proclamation  to  consider  it,  and  on 
the  9th  of  April  Sumner,  with  a  single  sheet  of 
paper  before  him,  delivered  an  oration  lasting  sev- 
eral hours,  which  was  a  mine  of  information  with 
regard  to  the  Russian  possessions,  and  which  has 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY. 


245 


re  taken  into 
was  sent  to 
1867  Con- 
vvith  a  view 
c,  and  a  res- 
for  a  recess 
c  evening  of 
chairman  of 
)ns,  found  a 
n:  "Can  you 
lave  a  matter 
•h  it  is  desir- 
:  once."    Re- 
tlie  first  time 
d  was  on  the 
tures  of  Mr. 
ster,   Mr.   de 
ment  at  four 
i    treaty  was 
tie  day.     On 
;  Senate  was 
er  it,  and  on 
igle  sheet  of 
1  lasting  sev- 
-mation  with 
id  which  has 


hardly  been  excelled  since  in  its  exhaustive  treat- 
ment of  a  country  then  almost  unknown  to  the 
American  public.  The  ratification  of  the  treaty 
was  due  very  largely  to  Sumner's  eloquence. 
Only  two  votes  were  cast  against  ratification  in 
the  Senate,  those  of  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  of 
Maine,  and  of  Justin  S.  Morrill,  of  Vermont. 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  who,  as  leader  of  the  House, 
was  bound  to  have  much  to  say  about  the  appro- 
priation necessary  to  carry  the  treaty  into  eflfect, 
also  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  favor  of  rati- 
fication. Sumner  said  in  the  course  of  his  speech 
that  it  was  within  his  knowledge  that  the  Russian 
Government  was  sounded  on  the  subject  of  the 
purchase  of  Alaska  during  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Buchanan.  This  was  done  through  Mr. 
Gwin,  at  the  time  a  Senator  from  California,  and 
Mr.  Appleton,  Assistant  Secretary  of  State.  Mr. 
Gwin  had  more  than  one  interview  with  the  Rus- 
sian Minister  at  Washington  some  time  in  De- 
cember, 1859,  and  in  reply  to  an  inquiry  from  the 
Russian  Minister  Mr.  Gwin  said  the  United 
States  could  go  as  high  as  $5,000,000  for  the  pur- 
chase. Gwin  professed  to  speak  for  the  President 
unofficially.  The  conversations  never  reached  the 
stage  of  formal  negotiations.  Prince  Gortschakof 


■:^ 


I     i! 


Ml 


246 


KLONDIKE. 


remarking  in  a  dispatdi  received  early  in  i860 
that  the  sum  of  $5,000,000  did  not  seem  in  any 
way  to  represent  the  real  value  of  the  possessions. 

In  1861  Captain  Lieutenant  Golovin,  of  the 
Russian  navy,  made  a  detailed  report  on  the  Rus- 
sian possessions  in  America,  his  voyage  having 
been  undertak-en  by  direction  of  Prince  Gortscha- 
kof  with  a  view  to  obtaining  information  which 
would  enable  the  Russian  Government  to  con- 
sider with  more  intelligence  the  suggestion  for 
purchase.  The  subject  was  submerged  by  the 
Presidential  election  then  approaching,  and  af- 
terwards by  the  rebellion,  to  be  revived  after  the 
close  of  the  war  through  a  suggestion  to  Seward 
from  the  Russian  Minister. 

Few  treaties  were  ever  conceived,  initiated, 
prosecuted  and  completed  in  so  simple  a  manner, 
without  protocols  or  dispatches.  The  whole  ne- 
gotiation appears  in  the  result,  unless  we  except 
two  brief  notes,  each  less  than  one  hundred  words 
in  length,  which  constitute  all  that  passed  be- 
tween the  negotiators. 

It  was  Sumner  who  suggested  the  name  "Alas- 
ka" for  the  new  acquisition. 


THE    BOUNDARY    DISPUTE. 


247 


'  in  i860 
m  in  any 
ssessions. 
n,  of  the 

the  Rus- 
[^e  having 
Giortscha- 
on  which 
t  to  con- 
istion  for 
d  by  the 
,  and  af- 

after  the 

0  Seward 

initiated, 

1  manner, 
vhole  ne- 
ve except 
•ed  words 
issed  be- 
ne "Alas- 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 


THE  BOUNDARY  DISPUTE. 

There  is  every  probability  that  the  new  di. 
coveries  of  gold  will  bring  the  long  pending 
boundary  dispute  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  to  a  head.  The  most  profitable  dig- 
gings are  situated  near  the  141st  meridian,  whidh 
is  the  boundary  fixed  by  treaty  in  the  Northwest- 
ern Territory,  and  the  constant  danger  of  clash- 
ing of  authorities  will  precipitate  a  determination. 
This  country  has  never  been  adequately  surveyed, 
and  there  is  some  uncertainty  as  to  whether  cer- 
tain of  the  gold  bearing  creeks  are  on  Alaskan  or 
Canadian  soil.  The  determination  of  this  portion 
of  the  lx>undary,  however,  is  purely  a  matter  for 
survey.  Ogilvie,  the  Canadian  land  surveyor, 
has  been  carrying  on  his  observations  for  some 
years,  but  so  far  as  the  United  States  is  con- 
cerned the  only  surveys  have  been  unofficial. 
The  most  delicate  question  will  arise  with  re- 


348 


KLONDIKE. 


giard  to  the  boundary  of  the  southeastern  strip  of 
the  territory.  For  the  last  twelve  years  the  Brit- 
ish Government  has  been  tryingby  continually  in- 
creasing claims  to  shake  the  hold  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  strip  of  mainland  in  Southeastern 
Alaska,  and  upon  some  of  the  gold  bearing  isl- 
ands. 

Up  to  1884  both  countries  were  practically  as 
one  as  to  the  boundar}'  line  from  Mt.  St.  Elias  to 
the  southeast.  According  to  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  between  Russia  and  Gr^t  Britain,  the 
United  States,  in  purchasing  Alaska  in  1867,  ac- 
quired all  of  Russia's  rights.  In  describing  the 
southeastern  boundary  the  Anglo-Russian  treaty 
reads: 

"The  line  of  demarkation  between  the  poses- 
sions  of  the  high  contracting  parties  upon  the 
coast  of  the  continent  and  the  islands  of  America 
to  the  northwest  shall  be  drawn  in  the  foiUowing 
manner:  Commencing  from  the  southernmost 
point  of  the  island  called  Prince  of  Wales  Island, 
which  point  lies  in  the  parallel  ol  54  degrees  40 
minutes  north  latitude,  and  between  the  131st 
degree  and  the  133d  degree  of  west  longitude, 
the  same  line  shall  ascend  to  the  north  along  the 
channel  called  Portland  Channel,  as  far  as  the 


THE    BOUNDARY    DISPUTE. 


249 


strip  of 
he  Brit- 
ually  in- 
United 
leastern 
ring  isl- 

ically  as 
Elias  to 
s  of  the 
ain,  the 
1867,  ac- 
hing the 
in  treaty 

le  poses- 
ipon  the 
America 
o'llowing 
lernmost 
s  Island, 
grees  40 
le  131st 
•ngitude, 
long  the 
r  as  the 


point  of  the  continent  where  it  strikes  the  56th 
degree  of  north  latitude;  from  this  last-mentioned 
point  the  line  of  demarkation  shall  follow  the 
summit  of  the  mountains  situated  parallel  to  the 
coast  as  far  as  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
141st  degree  of  west  longitude  (of  the  same 
meridian),  and  finally,  from  the  said  point  of  in- 
tersection, the  said  meridian  line  of  the  141st  de- 
gree, in  its  prolongation  as  far  as  the  frozen 
ocean,  shall  form  the  limit  between  the  Russian 
and  British  possessions  on  the  continent  of 
America  to  the  northwest. 

"Wlienever  the  summit  of  the  mountains 
which  extend  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  coast 
from  the  56th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the 
point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degre  of  west 
longitude,  shall  prove  to  be  at  the  distance  of 
more  than  ten  marine  leagues  from  the  ocean, 
the  limit  between  the  British  possessions  and  the 
line  of  coast  which  is  to  belong  to  Russia,  as 
above  mentioned  (that  is  to  say,  the  limit  to  the 
possessions  ceded  by  this  conveii'on),  shall  be 
formed  by  a  line  parallel  to  the  v.;  ding  of  the 
coast,  and  which  shall  never  exceed  the  distance 
of  ten  marine  leagues  therefrom." 

On  all  maps  from  1825  down  to  1884  the  boun- 


(I 


260 


KLONDIKE. 


dary  line,  it  was  declared,  bad  been  shown  as,  in 

general  terms,  parallel  to    the    winding  of  the 

coast,     and     thirty    miles    from    it.     In    1884, 

however,  an  official    Canadian  map    showed  a 

marked  deflection    in  this  line  at  its  south  end. 

Instead  of  passing  up  Portland  Canal  this  Cana- 
dian map  showed  the  boundary  as  passing    up 

Hehm  Canal,  an  arm  of  the  sea  some  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  west  of  Portland  Canal,  this 
change  having  been  made  on  the  bare  assertion 
that  the  words  Portland  Canal  as  inserted  were 
an  enror.  By  this  change  the  line  and  an  area 
of  American  territory  about  equal  in  size  to  the 
State  of  Connecticut  vvas  transferred  to  British 
territory.  There  are  several  facts  which  militate 
against  this  claim.  In  the  first  place,  the  British 
Admirality,  when  surveying  the  northern  limit 
of  British  Columbian  possessions,  in  1868,  one 
vear  after  the  cession  of  Alaska,  surveved  Port- 
land  Canal,  and  not  Behm  Canal,  thus  by  impli- 
cation admitting  this  canal  as  the  boundarv  line. 
The  region  now  claimed  by  British  Colum- 
bia was  at  that  time  occupied  by  a  military  post 
of  the  United  States  without  objection  or  protest 
on  the  part  of  British  Columbia.  Annette 
Island,  in  this  region,  was,  by  an  act  of  Congress, 


; 


THE    BOUNDARY    DISPUTE. 


251 


)\vn  as,  in 
[ig  of  the 

In  1884, 
showed  a 
outh  end. 
this  Cana- 
issing-  up 
e  sixty  or 
inal,     this 

assertion 
;rted  were 
d  an  area 
jize  to  the 
to  British 
:h  militate 
:he  British 
;hern  limit 
1868,  one 
;yed  Port- 
;  by  impli- 
ndarv  line. 
1  Colum- 
litary  post 

or  protest 
Annette 

Congress, 


four  years  ago,  set  apairt  as  a  reservation  for  the 
use  of  the  Metlakatla  Indians.  Within  a  year 
the  United  States  Engineers,  by  authorization  of 
Congress,  have  made  an  official  survey  of  the 
west  bank  of  Portland  Canal,  building  stone 
houses  at  various  places,  and  thus  exercising  an 
undoubted  act  of  sovereignty. 

British  contention  is  that  the  boundary  is  to 
follow  a  line  ten  marine  leagues,  not  from  the 
coast  of  the  mainland  but  from  the  coasts  of  the 
islands  skirting  the  shore.  At  certain  points  this 
would  throw  all  the  mainland  and  portions  of  the 
islands  irto  British  territory. 

So  far  have  the  Canadian  pretensions  gone  that 
some  of  their  maps  even  place  Dyea  in  Canadian 
teritory  and  leave  the  United  States  without  an 
entrance  to  the  Yukon  country  by  means  of  their 
mountains  to  the  southeast.  But  Secretar\'  Gage 
has  forestalled  pretensions  of  this  kind  by  making 
Dyea  formally  a  sub-port  of  entrj-. 


mmmmmm 


COMMENT  OF  THE  PRESS. 

By  far  the  best.  *  •  •  Temperate  in  style,  re- 
markably thorough. — Chicago  Tribune. 

Mr.  Coolidge's  book  is  timely  and  well  done. — 
New  York  Sun. 

The  book  will  be  accepted  as  an  authority. — 
New  York  Press. 

Treats  the  subject  in  all  its  varied  and  interest- 
ing phases.— New  York  Journal. 

The  mine  of  information  is  little  short  of  amaz- 
ing. If  one  wishes  to  go  gold  hunting  he  could 
not  have  a  better  guide. — Brooklyn  Eagle. 

Everything  that  is  known  of  the  new  gold  re- 
gion is  in  this  book,  and  presented  in  a  way  that 
readers  will  appreciate. — Boston  Globe. 

The  best  book  on  the  Klondike  country. — Wash- 
ington Times. 

Abounds  in  facts  of  interest  to  all  intelligent 
readers.— Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

Every  reader  will  be  pleased  with  the  book. 
There  are  many  facts  there  that  cannot  be  found 
elsewhere. — Boston  Journal. 

The  facts,  statistics  and  history  presented  are 
accurate  and  have  the  stamp  of  official  authority. 

•  •  •  Mr.  Coolidge  has  rendered  a  valuable 
service. — New  York  T^fail  and  Express. 

The  maps  and  diagrams  may  be  accepted^  as  the 
most  ncarlv  accurate  and  up  to  date  in  existence. 
—Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

Full  of  good  and  accurate  information. — San 
Francisco  Chronicle. 

A  very  comprehensive  book. — Seattle  Post-Intel- 
ligencer. 

Should  be  imiversally  read. — Colorado  Springs 
Gazette. 

The  book  is  almost  indispensable. — Concord 
Monitor. 

The  possible  gold  seeker,  the  scientist,  the  bus- 
iness man  .nnd  the  general  reader  will  find  some- 
thing of  profit  in  its  pages.— Ila'risburg  (Pa.) 
Telegram. 

Interesting  as  it  is  timely.— New  Haven  Reg- 
ister. 

A  seasonable  and  useful  book,  x^ompiled  from 
authentic  sources  and  brought  down  to  date. — 
Indianapolis  Journal. 

A  vast  amount  of  practical  information  in  a  small 
compass.— The  Evengelist  (N.  Y.). 


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